I extended the dwellings of the people in security
THE EPILOGUEThe judgments of righteousness which Hammurabi the powerful kingsettled, and caused the land to receive ablack-headed race, whom Bel had assignedneglect, I found for them safe pastures, I opened the way through sharpocks, and gave them guidance With the powerful weapon that zamamaand Ishtar granted me by the foresight with which Ea endowedwith the power that Marduk gave me, I cut off the enemy abote and be-joice. I extended the dwellings of the people in security. I lett thean.aIaea Itthe conquered. The flesh of the land I made to re-to fear. The great gods chose me and I am the shepherd that givespeace, whose club is straight of evil and good in my city I was the direct-carried all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom. By my pro-tection, I guided in peace its brothers. By my wisdom, I providedthem. That the great should not oppress the weak, to counsel the widowand orphan, in Babylon, the city of Anu and Bel, I raised up its head(thestele s)in e-sag-gil (temple of Marduk there),thewhose foundation is firm as the heaven and carth. To judge the judgment of the land,decide the decisions of the land, to succor the injured, I wrote on mystele the precious words and placed them before my likeness, that of arighteous king. The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I MyWords are precious, my power has no rival. By the order of Shamash, thejudgeme, of heaven and carth, that judgment may shine in theland; by the permission of Marduk, my lord, I set up a bas-relicf, to pre-mv likeness in e-sag-gil that I love, to commemorate mvforerer in gratitude. The oppressed who has a suit to prosecute maybefore mv image, that of a rightding and read mv inscripand understand my precious words and mastele elucidate his casLet himdraw in his breath andThis Hammurabi was a ruler who was to his people like the father thatbegot them. He obeyed the order of Marduk his lord, he follow'ed thecommands of marduk abore and below. He delighted the heart of mar-duk his lord, and granted happy life to his people forever. He guided theland. Let him recite the document. Before Mardukand zarpanitum, my lady, with full heart let him draw near. The colossusrery day before Marduk, my lord, and ?arpanitum, my ldr thimblesand the gods that live in e-sag-gil, or the courts of e-sag-gil le
In the future, in days to come, at any time, let the king who is in theand, guard the words of righteousness which I have written on my steleLet him not alter the judgment of the land which I judged nor the de-cisions I decided. Let him not destroy my basrelief. If that man has wis-dom and is capable of directing his land, let him attend to the wordswhich I have written upon my stele, let him apprehend the path, therule, the law of the land which I judged, and the decision I decided forhe land, and so let him guide forward the black-headed race; let himudge their judgment and decide their decision, let him cut off from hisand the proud and violent, let him rejoice the flesh of his people. Hamurabi, the king of righteousness, to whom Shamash has granted rights,am I My words are precious, my deeds have no rival. Above and belowam the whirlwind that scours the deep and the height. If that man hashearkened to my words which I have written on my stele and has notfrustrated justice, has not altered my words, has not injured my bas-re-liefs, may Shamash make lasting his sceptre; like me, as a king of rightcousness, let him guide his people in justiceBut if that man does not hearken to my words which I wrote on mystele, forgets my curses, fears not the malediction of God, sets aside thejudgment which I judged, alters my words and destroys my bas-reliefseffaces my inscribed name and writes in his own name; or, for fear ofthese curses has charged another to do so; that man, be he king, lordpates, or noble, whose name is ever so renowned, may the great god(Anu), the father of gods, who named my reign, turn him back, shatterhis sceptre in pieces, curse his fortunes; may Bel the lord who fixes thefates, whose command is not set aside, who extended my sovereignty,cause for him an endless revolt, an impulse to fly from his home, and setfor his fortune a reign of sighs, short dayof want, darkness thatwTth he ray of light and a death in the sight of all men. May he decreeheavy curse the ruin of his city, the scattering of his people, theremoval of his sovereignty, the disappearance of his name and his racefrom the land May Beltu, the great mother, whose command is weightyin e-kur, the lady who made my plans prosperous, make his words inthe matter of justice and law to be hateful before Bel. May she bringabout the downfall of his country, the loss of his people, the efflux of hilife like water, by the order of the Bel, the king. May Ea, the grandrince, whose destiny takes premier rank, the messenger of the gods,who knows all, who has prolonged my life, distort his understandingand intellect, curse him with forgetfulness, dam up his rivers at theirsource. In his land may Ashnan(the deity of wheat), the life of thepeople, not grow May Shamash, great judge of heaven and carth, whogoverns the creatures of life, the lord of help, cut off his sovereigntyudge not his judgment; carry away his path; annihilate the march of hisarmies; cast an evil look upon him to uproot his rule, and fix for him theloss of his land. May the evil sentence of Shamash quickly overwhelmamondeprive his ghost of water May Sin, the lord of the sky, the god who cre-ates, whose ray is splendid among the gods, deprive him of crown andthrone of kinship: surround him with a great shirt of pain, a heavy pen-alty, that will not leave his body, and make him finish his days, monthby month, through the years of his reign, in tears and sighs. May he mul-tiply for him the burden of royalty. May he grant him as his lot a life thatcan only be likened to death. May Adad, lord of abundance, great bull ofthe sky, and the earth, my helper, withdraw the rain from the heavensthe floods from the springs; destroy his land with hunger and wantthunder in wrath over his city, and turn his land to deluge mounds MayZamama, great warrior, first bom of e-kur, who goes at my right handon the battlefield, shatter his weapon and tum for him day into nightMay he place his enemy over him. May Ishtar, the lady of conflict andbattle, who prospered my arms, my gracious protector, who loved myeig, in her heart of rage, her boundless fury, curse his sovereignty; turnall his mercies to curses, shatter his weapon in conflict and battle, ap-point him trouble and sedition, strike down his heroes, and make theearth drink of their blood, scatter the plain with heaps of the carcasses ofhis troops, grant them no burial; deliver himself into the hands of his enemv, cause him to be carried in chains to the enemys land May nerathe powerful one of the gods, who meets with no rival, who caused meto obtain my triumphs, burn up his people with a fever like a great fireamong the reeds. with his powerful weapon may he drink him up, withhis fevers crush him like a statue of clay May Erishtu, the exalted lady ofall lands, the creator-mother, carry off his son and leave him no nameMay he not beget a seed of posterity among his people May Nin-karrakthe daughter of Anu, the completer of my mercies in e-kur, award him asevere malady, a grievous illness, a painful wound, which cannot behealed, of which the physician knows not the origin, which cannot besoothed by the bandage; and rack him with palsy, until she has masteredhis life; may she weaken his strength. May the great gods of heaven andearth, the Anunnal, in their assembly, who look after the halls and thecourts of this E-bar-ra(temple of Shamash at Sippara, where the stelewas clearly set up), curse with a bitter curse his dynasty, his land, hissoldiers, his people, and his subjects. May the judgments of Bel, which inhis mouth are irrevocable, curse him and quickly overcome him
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