P ¶ 21

Prologue ¶ 21 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
Hammurabi explains his lineage and justifies his rule.
Translation
I am the descendant of Sumu-la-il, the mighty heir of Sin-muballit, with royal ancestors for generations; the mighty king, the sun of Babylon who shines all over the lands of Sumer and Akkad; the king who has made the four parts of the world listen; the one beloved of Ishtar.
Section
Inscription

Cuneiform

Prologue ¶  - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 3, col. IV–V, lns. 67–70, 1–13)

Transliteration

li-ib-li-ib-bi ša Su-mu-la-ilu mâr+dannim ša iluSin-bmu-ba-li-iṭ zêr+dârû-um ša šar-ru-tim šarrum dan-num iluŠamaš KA.DINGIR.RA.KI mu-še-zi nu-ri-im a-na ma-at Šu-me-er-im u Ak-ka-di-im šarrum mu-uš-te-beš-mi ki-ib-ra-at ar-ba-im mi-gi-ir iluNanâ ba-na-ku

Source: Harper (1904, p. 8)

Normalization

liplippim ša Sumula'il aplum dannum ša Sîn-muballiṭ zērum dārium ša šarrūtim šarrum dannum, šamšu Bābilim mušēṣi nūrim ana māt Šumerim u Akkadîm šarrum muštešmi kibrāt arba'im migir Ištar anāku.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 40)

Translation

I am the descendant of Sumu-la-il, the mighty heir of Sin-muballit, with royal ancestors for generations; the mighty king, the sun of Babylon who shines all over the lands of Sumer and Akkad; the king who has made the four parts of the world listen; the one beloved of Ishtar.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 41)

Inscription

Location of Prologue ¶ 21 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Sides 3 – 1 (overflow)
Column(s) Cols. 4–5
Line(s) Lns. 67–13
Key
Prologue ¶ 21
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage

Citation

Dedović, B. "P ¶ 21 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 6 Aug. 2024, ehlaw.org/prologue/21. [Accessed 5 Jan. 2025]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2024, August 6). P ¶ 21 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/prologue/21

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "P ¶ 21 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created August 6, 2024. Modified August 25, 2024. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://ehlaw.org/prologue/21.

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'."

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eHammurabi Glossary

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

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eHammurabi Glossary

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

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eHammurabi Glossary

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

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eHammurabi Glossary

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

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