HAMMURAPI

sometimes called Hammurabi or Khammurabi, King of s. of Sinmuballit and the sixth ruler of the first Babylonian Dynasty. A reference in the 14th chapter of Genesis would indicate that he participated with Chedorlaomer in a raid on Syria. During the first half of his reign he was occupied with the conquest of Me so pot am i a. It is probable that A ur and Nineveh were included in his kingdom, although they may have acknowledged a shadowy suzerainty of As syria. He was one of the greatest and noblest of Babylonian kings, and his celebrity is based not so much on his conquests as on his wisdom and organizing ability. Many important undertakings for the benefit of his kingdom such as the building of canals, construction of granaries as a safeguard against famine and the development of the financial resources of his realm are recorded in ancient inscriptions. He took pride in the title ‘King of Righteousne ’. He reorganized the judiciary, freed himself to some extent from the domination of the priesthood and devoted himself to the administration of justice. The code of Hammurapi (q.v.) is one of the most enlightened and inter— esting law compilations of ancient times. CODE OF, a system of la i the Babylonian king of that ketenes engraved on a block of diorite discovered by De Morgan on the Acropolis of Susa 1901-02. There are 282 paragraphs in the code, comprising laws that deal respectively with property and persons and having many subdivisions. There is no religious legislation in the code, which is civil throughout. The legal principles on which the code are based are in the main wise and humane, and compare favorably with those of the Mosaic code. The latter in fact may have been influenced to some extent by the former. The weak, the poor, the widow and the orphan are protected against injustice from the powerful and rich. A woman had the right to own and dispose of property and she could also divorce her husband on certain grounds. Hven the slave had certain legal rights. An advanced economic condition is shown by laws concerning land owners, deposits, loans, debts and other features of trade, property and commerce. It is impo ible to tell how much of the code is due to Hammurabi’s own conceptions of justice and equity and how much had already been embodied in collections of daw compiled by earlier monarchs, but the principles laid down are far in advance of those contained in the teg is lati on of other nations of that period. Hng. politician; entered Parliament, 4621; chiefly famous for his refusal to pay ship-money (gq. v.) in 1637; his trial before Court of Exchequer resulted in judgment against him, 1638. He was a determined opponent of Charles I., and @ member of Short and Long Parliaments; had share in prosecution of Str afford; was one of five members impeached by Charles in 1642. On outbreak of Civil War he raised troops for Parliament; mortally wounded at Chal grove Field, 1643.