ABSTRACT
One Ancient Mesopotamian only has found his way into the US House of Representatives in Washington DC: Hammurabi of Babylon’s sculpted portrait joins those of Moses, Justinian, Thomas Jefferson, and others as “historical figures noted for their work in establishing the principles that underlie American Law.” As author of the code of Hammurabi, the king has become a widely recognized world-historical figure. People who know somewhat more about Ancient Mesopotamia realize that his work was not a new beginning, but the culmination of processes that had started much earlier and the evidence for which is mostly written in the Sumerian language rather than the Babylonian of Hammurabi’s code. I will discuss that material here, focusing on third millennium BC developments in law and politics. By necessity, I will use assorted evidence that is much dispersed in space, time, and character. The Code of Hammurabi, written some 250 years after the end of the third millennium, provides a means to keep those different strands together as it addresses all the issues, perhaps seeking to resolve conflicts between the different interests involved.
