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The Laws of Eshnunna

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Reuven Yaron
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Extract

The laws of the Old-Babylonian kingdom of Eshnunna (LE) were discovered in 1945 and 1947, on two parallel tablets, during excavations on the outskirts of Baghdad. In 1948 a first edition, with English translation, was published by Professor Albrecht Goetze, of Yale University. Since then the LE have been translated into many languages, major and minor, and a considerable literature has grown up around them. Goetze himself has repeatedly returned to the Laws of Eshnunna. His standard edition of the LE, now in general use by scholars, was published in 1956.

Eshnunna, to the east of the river Tigris, flourished during the early second millennium B.C. Much of its history is as yet uncertain. Here it will suffice to note that it finally fell victim to the expansionist policies pursued with success by Hammurabi of Babylon, during the fourth decade of his reign. The date of promulgation of the LE is uncertain, but it is at least agreed that they precede the Code of Hammurabi, though one cannot know by how much. It is then a fair guess that they were issued in the course of the 18th century B.C.; thus they constitute the earliest collection known at present, of legal rules in Akkadian.

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Articles
Information
Israel Law Review , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , July 1970 , pp. 327 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1970

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References

1 Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 31.

2 The Laws of Eshnunna, Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1969 (cited Laws).

3 These preliminaries are here given in a much abridged form. For more detailed discussion, see Laws, pp. 15 ff.

4 See, in greater detail and with justification of each change, Laws, pp. 9 ff.

5 Contrary to the text as a whole, the heading is in Sumerian. See further Laws, p. 20.

6 The meaning of ruštum has not yet been established.

7 ša nisẖatim: meaning uncertain. For various suggestions see Laws, p. 22.

8 ina nullani: meaning not established. The main suggestions are (a) “in an emergency”, (b) “wrongfully, disonestly”. See Laws, p. 23.

9 muškenum is a class designation, but it is submitted that within the LE it has no clearly defined legal significance, and refers to “ordinary citizen”. For a detailed discussion of Old-Babylonian class distinctions, see Laws, pp. 83 ff.

10 tamkarum—“merchant”. See Laws, p. 100.

11 sabitum—“alewife”. See Laws, Ibid.

12 adi mad/ṭim: reading and meaning uncertain. For details see Laws, p. 27.

13 For a different rendering, but with identical import, see Laws, p. 29: “(Per) 1 shekel he will add one sixth and/ 6 grains (as) interest; (per) 1 kor he will add 1 (pan and) 4 seah of barley (as) interest.” For a translation like that given in the text, see Botéro, J., Ecole pratique des hautes études, IVe section, Sciences historiques et philologiques, Annuaire 1965/1966, p. 92.Google Scholar

14 ana panišu: meaning uncertain. See Laws, pp. 30 f., 162 f.

15 The operative last sentence, “The day…not live”, is omitted in Tablet B.

16 napṭarum: a class designation of uncertain import. See Laws, pp. 39, 100.

17 Tišpak: the chief deity in Eshnunna.

18 ubarum: a class designation of uncertain import. See Laws, p. 100.

19 mudum: another obscure class designation. Laws, ibid.

20 šakkanakkum: a senior official, the king's highest ranking representative in a particular town. See Laws, p. 75.

21 kannum, maškanum, abbuttum: various kinds of slave marks. For further details, see Laws, pp. 101 f.

22 For a detailed discussion of sec. 53, see (1966) 1 Is.L.R. 396 ff.

23 These two sections touch also upon questions of property and delict.

24 The import and implications of this parallel are considered in the paper quoted in note 22 at pp. 398 ff.