and the gap in the Chronicle here may have con- tained the name of this fortress. (9) The year in which the canal Hammurabi was dug. It is not clear whether this canal or the one called Tisid- Bél was meant here. The latter ran from the Euphrates to Sippar. This event may have been used only to date Sippar documents. (10) Zhe year in which the... inhabitants of Malgi. ‘This probably refers to a reinstatement of the people, on the restoration, of Malgé and Maer. Some event connected with a city dated the next year. (12) The year in which the throne of Sarpanitum was made. This goddess was the consort of Mar- duk. The date of the next year is not made out clearly. (14) The year in which the throne of Istar of Babylon was made. (15) The year in which the seven images were made. (16) The year in which the throne of Nabi was made. Next year another image was made; the year following, something for Bél. The next year something was said about ‘the mountain’?, (20) The year in which the throne of Adad was made. (21) The year in which the wall of Bazw was made. The city Bazw was close to Sippara, and not far from Kish. Next year perhaps a canal was cut or an image of Hammu- rabi set up. Then something seems to have been done at Sippara. Then something was done for Bél. (25) Lhe year in which the wall of Sippara was made. It was the foundation that was laid this year’, and it was ‘the great wall,’ probably an outer circle. The next year records a great flood. Then a great temple was built. (28) The year in which the temple E-NAM-HE was built. This was the temple called ‘the house of abund- ance,’ the temple of Adad at Babylon. (29) The year in which the image of the goddess Sala was made. Sala was the consort of Adad. (30) The year in which the army of Elam was defeated. (31) The year in which the land of Lamutbal was annexed. A fuller form of this date is, ‘ The year of Hammurabi the king, in which with the help of Anu and Bél he established his good fortune, and his hand cast to the earth the lana of Lamutbal and Rim-Sin the king. A further conquest is recorded for the next year, perhaps of the land Duplias. (33) The year in which the canal of Hammurabi... This may refer to the com- pletion of the work begun in the ninth year, or to a new canal whose name is not preserved. (84) The year in which for Anu, Istar, and Nand (the temple E-TUR-KALAMA was restored). ‘This date is restored from contemporary documents. The next year perhaps the great wall named Kara-Samas was built. The dates of the next two years are lost. (38) The year in which the city of Duplia&s was destroyed by flood. This date is restored from contemporary documents. An alter- native date for this year is, The year of Hammu- rabi the king in which the people of Turukku, Kakmum, and Subé. . . . Whether they were destroyed by flood or conquered does not appear. The dates of the next five years are lost, but the Chronicle gives the total length of the reign as forty-three years. We know several other year- names for this reign, but are not able to place them yet. The year in which Ibik-Adad captured the city of Rabikw. Another date refers to the building of the walls of Rabiku and Kaér-Samas. The latter was built on the banks of the Tigris. The year of Hammurabi the king in which the goddess Tasmétum made favourable her word. The year of Hammurabi the king in which the temple E-ME-TE-UR-SAG was restored and the temple IGI-E-NIR-KIDUR-MAH was built for Zamama and Ninni, and its summit made high like the heavens. (For further details, see King and Lindl).
7, This sketch we may fill out by the details
588
CODE OF HAMMURABI
given in letters and contracts. There the king appears as an energetic benevolent ruler, who kept the chief business of importance under his own direction. Most of his letters are addressed to one Sin-idinnam, who, if not a vassal king of Larsa, was the governor of that city. If he was set in the place of Rim-Sin, who was independent king of Larsa for the first thirty years of Hammu- rabi’s reign, we may suppose all these letters dated after that event. But, in any case, it is unlikely that Hammurabi could give such minute orders to Sin-idinnam as long as Rim-Sin reigned there. We find that Sin-idinnam exercised authority also over Erech and Ur. At one time Sin-idinnam had a military command, for the king ordered him to send certain Elamite goddesses, who had been cap- tured, under escort to Babylon; and when the same goddesses were sent back to their temples, under the escort of Inuhsamar and his troops, Sin-idinnam was told to attack the Elamites first, lest it might seem to be a confession of weakness. The earliest known reference to Assyria occurs in these letters, when 240 men of the ‘Kine’s com- pany’ are said to have left Assyria. The Code also names Ashur, the city, and Nineveh (col. iv. ll. 55-63); but last among the list of subject- towns. The name of the god A&sur already occurs in the reign of Sin-muballit (B!3, B114).