The Laws of Hammurabi as a Royal Inscription

Abstract

This chapter addresses the rich treasury of rhetorical devices the Laws of Hammurabi uses to present its message. It is structured in the form of a royal inscription, but it is not an ordinary agglomeration of hackneyed bromides repeating standard wording. It is inventive and subtle in the way it fuses together a number of models from Hammurabi’s royal inscriptions, amplifying the authority of the king and demonstrating his devotion to justice. The Laws of Hammurabi incorporates a collection of statutes and presents them as being promulgated by the king immediately after his accession to the throne, rather than decades later: his pious actions are portrayed as timeless and unassailable achievements, rather than in chronological format. Verbal maps depict Hammurabi’s domination over different regions.