P ¶ 1

Prologue ¶ 1 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the deity Marduk was chosen by Anu and Enlil to rule the world.
Translation
There was a time1 when exalted Anu, the king of the Anunnaki, and Enlil, the lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destinies of the nation, determined that Marduk, the first son born to Ea, should govern as Enlil all the peoples of the world.
Section
Deities
Inscription

Cuneiform

Prologue ¶  - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 1, col. I, lns. 1–13)

Transliteration

(N)i-nu ilum bṣi-ru-um šar iluA-nun-na-ki iluEN.LIL be-el ša-me-e u ir-ṣi-tim ša-i-im ši-ma-at mâtim a-na iluMarduk mâr+ri-eš-ti-im ša iluEN.KI ilubêlu-ut kiššat ni-ši(g) i-ši-mu-šum

Source: Harper (1904, p. 2)

Normalization

īnu Anum, ṣīrum, šar Anunnakī, Ellil, bēl šamê u erṣetim šāʾim šīmāt mātim, ana Marduk, mārim rēštîm ša Ea, ellilūt2 kiššat nišī išīmūšum.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 28)

Translation

There was a time1 when exalted Anu, the king of the Anunnaki, and Enlil, the lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destinies of the nation, determined that Marduk, the first son born to Ea, should govern as Enlil all the peoples of the world.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 29)

Cuneiform

Signs for Prologue ¶ 1

Inscription

Location of Prologue ¶ 1 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Side 1
Column(s) Col. 1
Line(s) Lns. 1–13
Key
Prologue ¶ 1
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage

Vocabulary

Akkadian Words · Powered by GrammarSnifferSM

u (Conjunction)

ana (Preposition) "to, for, in order to"

ša (relative Particle) "(introduces relative clause or epithet); who, whom; s/he who"

Citation

Dedović, B. "P ¶ 1 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 5 Aug. 2024, ehlaw.org/prologue/1. [Accessed 16 Sep. 2024]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2024, August 5). P ¶ 1 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/prologue/1

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "P ¶ 1 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created August 5, 2024. Modified August 28, 2024. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://ehlaw.org/prologue/1.

CMS 16

Bibliography

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

ACH

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

CHTP

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

HKEY3

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

RHL

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

SoT

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol commonly denotes "a shorthand notation for the word 'section'."

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

The term Cuneiform commonly means "an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia."

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

The term Normalization commonly means "the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values."

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

The term Translation commonly means "the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another."

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

The term Transliteration commonly means "the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another."

Read more