The Code of Lipit-Ishtar is a collection of laws promulgated by Lipit-Ishtar (), a ruler in

Lower Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia is a historical region of Mesopotamia. It is located in the alluvial plain of Iraq from the Hamrin Mountains to the Faw Peninsula near the Persian Gulf. In the Middle Ages it was also known as the '' Sawad'' and al-Jazira al-s ...

. As cuneiform law, it is a legal code written in

cuneiform script Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

in the

Sumerian language Sumerian ) was the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the List of languages by first written account, oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 2900 BC. It is a local language isolate that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the a ...

. It is the second-oldest known extant legal code after the Code of Ur-Nammu. As it is more detailed than that earlier code, it paved the way for the famous later

Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian language, Akkadi ...

History

Historical background

Lipit-Ishtar () was the fifth king of the

Dynasty of Isin The Dynasty of Isin refers to the final ruling dynasty listed on the ''Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). The list of the Kings of Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin, the ''Li ...

, which was founded after the collapse of the

Third Dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC ( middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...

. His father, Ishme-Dagan, is credited with the restoration of

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...

, an ancient Sumerian city located in today's

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The Dynasty of Isin governed the city of

Isin Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...

, also located in today's Iraq, and held political power in the cities of Lower Mesopotamia. Lipit-Ishtar himself is said to have restored peace and is praised for the establishment of a functioning legal system.

Original stele

The original

diorite Diorite ( ) is an intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is Intermediate composition, inter ...

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

inscribed with the code was placed in

. Two pieces of this stele have survived to this day. The American academic Martha Roth notes that during this period a tradition existed to name individual years after notable events that happened in that year and argues that one named year could commemorate the erection of the stele. In its English translation, the year is named as follows:

Transmission

The code has been handed down to the present day through various sources. All but two of them stem from Nippur. About half of the code is contained in these sources and thus transmitted. The total length the code is considered to be about the same as that of the later Code of Hammurabi.

Legal contents

The Code of Lipit-Ishtar is similar in structure to the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest surviving law code. It has a prologue, which justifies its legal authority, a main body which contains the civil and penal laws governing life and a concluding epilogue.

Prologue

The prologue legitimatizes the legal content of the code. The gods An and

Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...

are invoked and it is explained that they have invested Lipit-Ishtar as "the country’s prince" in order to "establish justice in the land, eradicate the cry for justice .. ndforcefully restrain crime and violence" so "that Sumer and Akkad anbe happy". The prologue further informs the reader that Lipit-Ishtar has recently freed slaves from

, Ur, and

. The academic Martha Roth summarizes the prologue as containing self-praise of Lipit-Ishtar, listing all

n cities under his rule, and emphasizing his success as a restorer of justice.

Laws

The existing main body consists of almost fifty legal provisions. The first set of them deals with boats. They are followed by provisions on agriculture, fugitive slaves, false testimony, foster care, apprenticeship, marriage and sexual relationships as well as rented oxen. The provisions are all introduced by the Sumerian tukun-be, meaning "if". The transmitted provisions do not contain crimes which are punished by death. The code contains, for example, a provision according to which false accusers have to bear the punishment for the crimes they have alleged. All extant provisions of the code are listed by Martha Roth and .

Epilogue

The epilogue of the code contains three large lacunae. The remaining parts explain that Lipit-Ishtar executed a divine order and brought justice to his land: Furthermore, the erection of the stele is reported upon, and blessings are said to those who honour the stele and curses inflicted upon those who would venture to desecrate or destroy it.

Critical edition and modern translations

No modern critical edition of the code exists. Its last English translation was performed by Martha Roth in 1995. The German academic Claus Wilcke translated it into German in 2014.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* * {{Authority control Legal codes Ancient Near East law Isin-Larsa period 20th-century BC works