Textual and Structural Features

The inscriptions of Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna and the copies of Abi-ešuḫ 1 and Ammi-ditana 2 are very similar as for phraseology and textual structure. The sets of expressions and phrases attributed to the king are a good instance, since they follow standard patterns. The Akkadian titles correspond to fixed expressions in Sumerian. Compare, for instance, the following list of expressions:

1) LUGAL da-num2 LUGAL KA2.DIĜIR.RA.KI

lugal-kala-ga lugal-KA2.DIĜIR.RAk i

“mighty king, king of Babylon”

In: Hammurabi 12, 2-3, and Hammurabi 14, 10-11 (S) and 3’-4’ (A); Samsu-iluna 3, 53-54 (S) and 65-66 (A); Samsu-iluna 5, 29-30 (S) and 26-27 (A); Samsu-iluna 8, 2-3 (only Sumerian preserved); Abi-ešuḫ 1, 7’-8’ (S) and 6’-7’ (A).

116 _{Frayne 1990: RIME4.3.10.1.}

117 _{Ni 833+Ni 10753 are two fragments of the same tablet. See the commentary in Frayne 1990, 425.} 118 _{Frayne 1990, 425. Some information is available also on https://cdli.ucla.edu/.}

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2) LUGAL KALAM šu-me-ri-im u3 ak-ka-di-im

LUGAL ki-en-gi ki-uri-ke4

“king of the land of Sumer and Akkad”

Hammurabi 14, 12 (S) and 5’-6’ (A), and Abi-ešuḫ 1, 9’ (S) and 8’-9’ (A). 3) LUGAL ki-ib-ra-tim ar-ba-im

lugal an-ub-da-limmu2-ba-ke4

“king of the four quarters”

Hammurabi 12, 4 (S and A); Hammurabi 14, 13 (S) and 7’-8’ (A); Samsu-iluna 3, 54-55 (S) and 65-66 (A).

4) LUGAL mu-uš-te-eš-mi ki-ib-ra-at ar-ba-im

lugal an-ub-da-limmu2-ba-ke4 gu3-teš-a ib2-si3-ga

“king who makes the four quarters be at peace”

Samsu-iluna 5, 31-32 (S) and 28-30 (A); Samsu-iluna 8, 5-6 (only Sumerian preserved); Abi- ešuḫ 1, 11’-12’ (S) and 10’-11’ (A).

Such expressions are, for the largest part, inherited from the tradition of the earlier royal inscriptions. Some of them are attested since the Ur III or even the Old Akkadian period. The epithet lugal kala-ga “mighty king” (1), that corresponds to the Akkadian šarrum dannum in the OB bilingual inscriptions, was first adopted by Amar-Sîn during the Ur III period.120 _{The following title}

has the form “lugal GN” (Hallo 1957, 10) and through this title the king identifies himself as “king of Babylon” (LUGAL KA2 DIĜIR-RA). It is one of the most common royal titles and is already

attested in pre-Sargonic times.121

The king may also define himself as the ruler of the entire land, and thus adopt the title lugal ki- en-gi ki-uri-ke4 / šar mātšumerim u akkadim, “king of the land of Sumer and Akkad” (2). This

expression was also one of the royal titles in use during the Ur III period, and its adoption by the Old Babylonian kings is therefore in line with that tradition.122

120 _{Hallo 1957, 89.} 121 _{Hallo 1957, 12-28.}

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The title “king of the four quarters” (3, lugal an-ub-da-limmu2-ba-ke4 / šar kibratim

arba’im) is also inherited from the earlier tradition, since it is attested in the royal inscription since the Sargonic period.123 _{Hammurabi introduced a new form of the title “the king who makes the four}

quarter be at peace” (4, lugal an-ub-da-limmu2-ba-ke4 gu3-teš-a ib2-si3-ga / šar muštešmi

kibrat arba’im) - and this innovation was later adopted by the other kings of the first dynasty of Babylon.

Therefore, the Old Babylonian kings inherited their phraseology from an earlier tradition, and they occasionally adapted this tradition to their taste and needs. They may define themselves as the favorite of the gods (migir, in Akkadian, and nun-še-ga, in Sumerian),124 _{and their kingdom as a commission}

that the gods gave them “as a gift” (ni3-ba-ni-eš, in Sumerian, ana qīštim, in Akkadian)125. The

king is the one who pleases the hearts of the gods (muṭīb libbi, in Akkadian, ša3 du1 0-ga is

Sumerian)126_{, since he does what makes the gods happy.}127 _{For these reasons, the gods will let the}

king exercise his power in peace forever (ana dār, in Akkadian, and du-ri-še3, in Sumerian).128

These are only some of the expressions that are commonly used to describe the king and his power in the Old Babylonian bilingual inscriptions. The kings wanted to present themselves as the ones who brought peace and happiness into the world, and they made use of Akkadian and Sumerian expressions to express such an ideology of their power. These expressions are therefore distinctive of the royal inscriptions of this dynasty.

The texts present some common structures as well. The incipit, for instance, is quite standard. Several inscriptions begin with the same temporal structure “inu…inu-šu” or “inu… inūmišu”

(“when…at that time”),129 _{an incipit that largely resembles that prologue of the Hammurabi codex.}130

123 _{This title occurs for the first time under Naram-Sîn (Hallo 1957, 49).} 124 _{Hammurabi 2, 5 (S) and 6 (A); Hammurabi 12, 33(S) and 37 (A).} 125 _{Samsu-iluna 3, 98 (S) and 122 (A); Samsu-iluna 7, 135.}

126 _{Hammurabi 2, 32 (S) and 34 (A).} 127 _{Samsu-iluna 3, 79 (S) and 98 (A).}

128 _{Samsu-iluna 5 78 (S) and 75 (A); and Samsu-iluna 3, 98 (S) and 121 (A).}

129 _{In the Akkadian versions, Hammurabi 2, 1 – 28; Hammurabi 14, 11’; Samsu-iluna 3 1 – 25 – 39; Samsu-iluna 5, 1 –}

13; Samsu-iluna 7, 116; Samsu-iluna 8, 4’’; Ammi-ditana 2, 19’. This type of structure is translated in Sumerian using different strategies. In the Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna inscriptions, it is translated with a nominalized clause in the locative case, introduced by the noun ud “day”. This temporal clause may be resumed by the locative ud-bi -a or u- ba, “on that day”, which corresponds to the Akkadian inu-šu or inūmišu and begins the main clause (Hammurabi 2, 1 – 28; Hammurabi 14, 17 – 23; Samsu-iluna 3, 1-17 and 18; Samsu-iluna 5, 1-14; Samsu-iluna 7, 11’’’; Samsu-iluna 8, 56). Differently, the inscriptions of the later king Ammi-ditana translate the same Akkadian construction with a Sumerian nominalized clause in the ablative (Ammi-ditana 2, 18 and 19’).

130 _{Hammurabi Codex, Prologue, 1-27 (Roth 1995, 76). For this particular temporal structure in the codex, see Hurowitz}

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Because of their textual and structural similarities, the Old Babylonian bilingual inscriptions of Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna seem to belong together with the copies of Abi-ešuḫ 1 and Ammi-ditana 2. They come from the same tradition, a tradition that was largely inherited from the preceding royal inscriptions.