Introduction

The ancient kings of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley are noteworthy for their consistent rigor to enact and enforce their style of government. Much information is absent from the pages of history, yet the profoundly positive contribution of certain rulers is quite admirable and noble.

The Mesopotamian river valley is situated at the crossroads of three continents, and was hence prone to wave after wave of social changes, usually in the form of invasion by bordering peoples.

Several generations of rulers left a remarkable impression of noble and wise leadership, with the great law code of Hammurabi as the watershed of the tradition of ancient Babylonian lawmakers.

The preceding generations of ancient kings were certainly an inspiration to the good kings of Mesopotamia who were so often outmatched by the coordination of kingdoms of lesser moral fiber that sprawled across the plains and mountains of the ancient Babylonian region.

In memory of the good kings nobility, and to inspire the present modern day age, the known records of the ancient laws codes, and a book of praises of the benevolent kings of ancient Babylon are now presented within the context of the hypothetical restored canon.

The Law Code of King Uruk-agina

The Law Code of King Ur-Nammu

The Law Code of King Bil-alama, of Esh-nunna

The Law Code of King Lipit-Eshtar

The Law Codes of Ancient Ur

The Law Code of King Uruk-agina Lost

King Uruk-agina (alternately Irik-agina) was a ruler of the city-state Lagash in Mesopotamia. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, Lug-alanda.

He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a legal code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found.

In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libationsfor the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so.

Urukagina's code has been widely hailed as the first recorded example of government reform, seeking to achieve a higher level of freedom and equality. It limited the power of the priesthood and large property owners, and took measures against usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure (of people's property and persons); as he later states, "The widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man".

Despite these apparent attempts to curb the excesses of the elite class, it seems elite or royal women enjoyed even greater influence and prestige in his reign than previously. Uruk-agina greatly expanded the royal "Household of Women" from about 50 persons to about 1500 persons.

He renamed it the "Household of the goddess Bau", and gave it ownership of vast amounts of land confiscated from the former priesthood, placing it under the supervision of his wife, Shasha (Shagshag). In his second year of reign, Shasha presided over the lavish funeral of his predecessor's queen, Baranamtarra, who had been an important personage in her own right.

Tracts restated from the lost law code

From the border territory of Ningirsu to the sea,

no person shall serve as officers.

For a corpse being brought to the grave,

his beer shall be 3 jugs and his bread 80 loaves.

One bed and one adult goat shall the undertaker take away,

and 3 ban of barley shall the [mourning] persons take away.

When to the reeds of Enki a [prominent] person has been brought,

his beer will be 4 jugs, and his bread 420 loaves.

One barig of barley shall the undertaker take away,

and 3 ban of barley shall the persons of [mourning] take away.

One woman’s headband, and one sila of princely fragrance

shall the eresh-dingir priestess take away.

420 loves of bread that have sat are the bread duty,

40 loaves of hot bread are for eating, and 10 loaves of hot bread are the bread of the table.

5 loaves of bread are for the persons of the levy,

2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Girsu.

490 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer

are for the lamentation singers of Lagash.

406 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels, and 1 sadug vessel of beer

are for the other lamentation singers.

250 loaves of bread and one mud vessel of beer are for the old wailing women.

180 loaves of bread and 1 mud vessel of beer are for the men of Nigin.

The blind one who stands in [mourning for the dead]

his bread for eating is one loaf, 5 loaves of bread are his at midnight,

one loaf is his bread at midday, and 6 loaves are his bread in the evening.

60 loaves of bread, 1 mud vessel of beer, and 3 ban of barley

are for the person who is to perform as the sagbur priest.

Adapted from Wikipedia.com

The Reforms of Uruk-agina

'He established freedom.'

While Greek political experience was so rich and varied that it has been said with little exaggeration that the Greeks "invented politics," the political realms of ancient Mesopotamia is commonly said to have been limited to an unvarying despotism that was total and non-benevolent, whose subjects knew only "the language of the whip."

There is good evidence, however, that a fair number of these rulers were benevolent, and, also that ancient Mesopotamia experienced forms of government other than despotism.

The greatest political achievement of the Greeks was democracy, which never developed in Mesopotamia or elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Yet before the Greeks attained democracy they had experienced three other types of government, which they called monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny. These three constitutional forms did develop in Mesopotamia also.

Gilgamesh was the last of the Sumerian primitive monarchs whose exploits were celebrated in epics. Thereafter, for more than a century, priest-dominated aristocratic councils ruled the Sumerian city-states through weak and compliant magistrates called ensi-gar, "governors installed (by a superior)."

Yet from about 2550 BC, when true historical sources first become relatively abundant, to about 2350 BC, when Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumer, dissatisfaction with oligarchic rule led intermittently to the rise of tyrants in the Greek sense of the term.

Best known among these Lugal's (literally "great man," a term used also in the sense of "lord" and usually translated "king") was Uruk-agina, who usurped power as "lugal of Lagash" after 2400 BC. He promoted so many reforms in the interest of the oppressed common people that Uruk-agina has been called one of the first social reformer in history.

Urukagina's inscriptions, begin with a description of the abuses which 'since time immemorial,' had been undermining the original 'divinely decreed way of life.' It is Uruk-agina's view that all the leading elements in society, the priests, administrators, powerful men, and even the governor and his family, were guilty of acting 'for his own benefit.'

Also of interest is King Uruk-agina's use of a contractual theory of government to justify both his usurpation of power and his reforms. He made a 'covenant' with Ningirsu, the patron god of the kingdom of Lagash, and he carried out Ningirsu's instructions.

Adapted from World History Project

The story of the reformer echoes through a number of benevolent kings of ancient Mesopotamia.

Read 'the Praise of King Uruk-agina' for a view of his reforms.

The Law Codes of Ancient Ur