Down the Euphrates Under Hammurabi's Laws

Belanum's Trip Down the River

1Sippar. Amat-Shamash is a naditu, one of a group of women in Sippar who lived apart in a special walled community. Many naditu women bought land, rented out fields and lent silver. She hires Belanum as her trading agent and hands him 40 jars of sesame oil and 60 bundles of wool to sell in the south. A scribe lists every jar and bundle on a clay tablet before he leaves. Belanum also rents a boat with a boatman named Ibbi.

2Babylon. The boat floats south to Hammurabi's capital. In the courtyard of the great temple stands a tall stone carved with the king's laws, and a scribe reads some of them aloud to Belanum. At the market, a young man offers to sell him a donkey cheaply. When Belanum learns the donkey belongs to the young man's father, he refuses to buy it unless the father comes with two witnesses and a written contract.

3Nippur. A farmer who borrowed barley from Amat-Shamash shows Belanum a field covered in river mud. A flood ruined his crop this spring. Belanum writes down what he sees and asks for no barley this year.

4Larsa. Larsa had its own kings until Hammurabi conquered it in 1763 BCE. One night, thieves steal 10 bundles of wool from the boat. No one catches them. Belanum swears before the city's god how much he lost, and the governor's officials pay him for the wool.

5Ur. Near Ur, Ibbi dozes at the steering oar and runs the boat onto a sandbar. The boat cracks, and 5 jars of oil spill into the river. Ibbi will owe Amat-Shamash for them. Belanum sells the rest of the goods at Ur. Back in Sippar, he hands Amat-Shamash the silver, and she gives him a sealed receipt for it.

Five Laws from Hammurabi's Code

Law 7. If a man buys silver, gold, an ox, a donkey or anything else from another man's son or slave without witnesses or a written contract, he is treated as a thief and shall be put to death.

Law 23. If a robber is not caught, the man who was robbed shall declare before the god what he lost, and the city and the governor of the district where the robbery happened shall replace it.

Law 48. If a man owes a debt of grain and a storm or flood ruins his field, or the grain does not grow for lack of water, he does not pay grain that year. He soaks his debt tablet in water and pays no interest for that year.

Law 104. If a merchant gives an agent grain, wool, oil or other goods to sell, the agent shall write down their value and pay it to the merchant. The agent shall get a sealed receipt for the silver he gives the merchant.

Law 237. If a man hires a boatman and loads the boat with grain, wool, oil or dates, and the boatman is careless and sinks the boat or loses its cargo, the boatman shall replace the boat and everything he lost.

About 1,300 Years Later: The Twelve Tables

In the early Roman Republic, judges came from wealthy old families called patricians, and they applied unwritten customs. Ordinary citizens, the plebeians, protested that they could not know the rules in advance. About 450 BCE, Rome's laws were written on twelve tablets and set up in the Forum, the city's main public square. The tablets are lost, but later Roman writers quoted parts of them. Three of those laws, adapted from translations, are below.

Table I. If one side does not come to court, after midday the judge shall decide for the side that is present. If both sides are present, the hearing shall end at sunset.

Table VII. If fruit falls from a man's tree onto his neighbor's land, the owner of the tree may go and gather it.

Table X. No dead person shall be buried or burned inside the city.