Part 31 (1/2)
II. The Letters Of ?ammurabi
(M754) The letters of ?ammurabi are by far the most important collection of letters. .h.i.therto published for the period of the First Dynasty of Babylon. They had a certain advent.i.tious value at one time, because one of them was thought to contain the name of Chedorlaomer, and this a.s.sociation with ?ammurabi, as Amraphel, was exploited in the interests of a defence of the historical value of Genesis xiv. Mr. L. W. King's edition of the letters, however, showed that such a use was unwarranted. But it served a much more useful end, giving us a very full picture of the times of the founder of the First Babylonian Empire. The excellent account given by Mr.
King of the contents of these letters is fairly exhaustive. The importance of such sources for history cannot be overestimated. They are contemporary. They are not written to impress posterity, but with absolute fidelity to fact. We may disbelieve some of the excuses made for misconduct, but in the references to current events or general customs we have a sure witness, if only we can understand them. This is often difficult because a letter presupposes relations between the correspondents which we must conjecture.
(M755) Since Mr. King's introduction to his first volume gives a full account of the few letters previously published, this need not be reproduced here. Of ?ammurabi's letters fifty-three are addressed to one and the same man, Sin-iddinam. It is doubtful whether he was the King of Larsa who bore this name, or the official who in the next reign seems to be Governor of Sippara. There are many persons who bore this name known at this period. However, several mentions of the temple of Shamash at Larsa occur in these letters and there is a certain presumption that Sin-iddinam of Larsa was the person intended.
(M756) ?ammurabi's ability as an administrator, which these letters reveal, and his care even for small details of his rule, may well be the reason why his empire proved so stable. He established a tradition which was long followed by his successors. He organized his land, appointed governors, and held them responsible to himself. He had a direct interest in their doings and sent minute written instructions, demanding reports, summoning defaulters to his presence, or directing their punishment where they were. The dates for his reign, as for others of the dynasty, show, not only raids and conquests, but chiefly public works of utility. The construction or repair of ca.n.a.ls, public buildings, temples, the ordering of justice, are works that repaid his care.
(M757) ?ammurabi was a man of many business enterprises. The collection of the temple revenues was an object of his attention. There is no evidence that these were available for his use, but he had a personal interest in all that was right and just. To him the herdsmen and shepherds of the temple flocks and herds had to report. He often appears as restoring, rebuilding, or adorning shrines, and he was careful of his religious duties. Thus he postponed a case because of a festival at Ur, which he seems to have found demanded the presence of one of the parties.
(M758) He had to settle important questions concerning the calendar; whether or not reports of astronomical observations were then received is not clear, but at any rate the king decided when the intercalary months should be inserted. Thus he told Sin-iddinam there was to be a second Elul.
(M759) The administration of justice was also no small part of his work.
Not only did he promulgate a code, but he also superintended its execution. There was a right of appeal to his judgment. He actively supervised his judges in the provinces. Thus a case of bribery was reported from Dur-gurgurri and he instructed Sin-iddinam to investigate the case and send the guilty parties to Babylon for punishment. He upheld a merchant's claim against a city governor, for the recovery of a loan. He protected the landowners against money-lenders. He examined claims to land and sent instructions to Sin-iddinam to carry out his decision. Thefts of corn, loans withheld, rents, were adjudicated by him. He summoned not only the parties, but the witnesses, to Babylon. Prisoners were sent under escort, and arrests ordered.
(M760) The king's own herds and flocks were a personal care to him. They were stationed in various parts of the country. He received reports about them, or sent inspectors to report upon them. On one occasion he summoned forty-seven shepherds to come and report to him in Babylon. He ordered additional shearers to a.s.sist those already at work. He regulated supplies of wood, dates, seed, and corn. These were often sent by s.h.i.+p, and there is evidence of a large number of s.h.i.+ps being employed, of varied capacities.
(M761) Public buildings demanded large gangs of workmen. They were drawn from the slave and serf population. A great many letters are concerned with the supply and movements of these laborers. Whether forced labor was inflicted as a punishment may be doubted. But the _corvee_ was in full operation. The hire of laborers is referred to, and it is probable that the forced laborers were fed and clothed at the expense of the state. Thus we see that ?ammurabi was a busy man and worked hard to build up his empire. His successors, though we have fewer of their letters, seem to have been fully as active.
(M762) It is not easy to select specimens for this period. Each letter has an interest of its own, and it is tempting to include most of them. But we may take the two letters referring to the G.o.ddesses of Emutbal, because one of them by a series of misreadings and misunderstandings was made to contain the famous reference to Chedorlaomer. The first(815) may be rendered.
To Sin-iddinam say, thus saith ?ammurabi: Now I am sending Zikir-ilishu, the _AB-AB-UL_, and ?ammurabi-bani, the _DU-GAB_, to bring the G.o.ddesses of Emutbal. Do thou forthwith embark the G.o.ddesses in a procession-boat (state barge) and let them come to Babylon. Let the hierodules come with them. For the sustenance of the G.o.ddesses embark food, drink, sheep, s.h.i.+p's furniture, and travelling expenses for the hierodules, until they reach Babylon.
Appoint men to draw the ropes, and _bi?ru_ men, that the G.o.ddesses may come safely to Babylon. Let them not delay but come quickly to Babylon.
(M763) These G.o.ddesses were very likely captured during an expedition to Emutbal which was a border province of Elam. It is natural to a.s.sociate this with the thirty-first year of ?ammurabi, for which the full date is:
”The year of ?ammurabi, the king, in which by the help of Anu and Bel he established his good fortune, and his hand cast to the earth the land of Iamutbal and Rim-Sin, the king.”(816)
The transport of the G.o.ddesses was made possible by the system of ca.n.a.ls.
Intercommunication was in an excellent state, for ?ammurabi ordered a man to be sent to Babylon from Larsa, and allowed him two days, travelling day and night. The hierodules are the female attendants of the G.o.ddesses. The officers whom ?ammurabi sent bear t.i.tles not yet clearly recognized. The name ?ammurabi-bani points to a deification of the king. Whether the G.o.ddesses reached Babylon and there brought misfortune on the country and so were sent back again, or whether their restoration to their shrines in Emutbal was part of the king's policy for a pacification of the conquered country, does not appear. But we read in another letter:(817)
”To Sin-iddinam say, thus saith ?ammurabi: The G.o.ddesses of Emutbal, which are in thy command, the troops of Inu?samar shall bring safely to thee. When they shall reach thee, combine the troops with those in thy hands and restore the G.o.ddesses to their shrines.”
The construction of the pa.s.sage seems to imply that the G.o.ddesses had protected Inu?-samar. The latter was in command of troops that were within Sin-iddinam's jurisdiction; for when Sin-magir complained to ?ammurabi that Inu?-samar had impressed some of his servants for military service contrary to a bond given him by the king, ?ammurabi referred the matter to Sin-iddinam, ordering the servant to be given up.(818) It was this name Inu?-samar that Scheil misread as Kudur-nu?-gamar.
(M764) A number of letters concern the ca.n.a.ls of the country. Thus we read:(819)
”To Sin-iddinam say, thus saith ?ammurabi: Summon the people who hold fields on the side of the Damanu ca.n.a.l, that they may scour the Damanu ca.n.a.l. Within this present month let them finish scouring the Damanu ca.n.a.l.”
Here we are introduced to the duty which lay upon riparians to keep the ca.n.a.ls running alongside their land in order. This was part of the _ilku_, or customary obligation. It lay with the governor to enforce it. In another letter(820) the king complains that a ca.n.a.l which had been partly cleared had not been cleared as far as Erech, and so the boats could not enter that city. Here Sin-iddinam was ordered to do the work with the men at his disposal and complete it in three days. After that he was to go on with the work he had already been ordered to do. In another fragmentary letter the king orders the clearing away of the water-plants which had obstructed the course of the Euphrates between Ur and Larsa. One is reminded of the _sudd_ on the Nile.(821)