Hammurabi Timeline

(c. 1810 BCE – c. 1750 BCE)

Hammurabi was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty who ruled Mesopotamia from approximately 1792 to 1750 BCE. He is best known for creating one of the world's earliest and most complete written legal codes, the Code of Hammurabi, which established standards for justice, commerce, and daily life in ancient Babylon. More Less

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Rise of Babylon

Founding of the Babylonian city-state

1894 BC

The kings who came before Hammurabi founded a relatively minor Amorite city-state around 1894 BC, which controlled little territory outside of the city of Babylon itself. For roughly a century after its founding, Babylon was overshadowed by older, larger, and more powerful kingdoms such as Elam, Assyria, Isin, Eshnunna, and Larsa.

Image source: Babylon

Birth of Hammurabi

1810 BC

Hammurabi was born around 1810 BC into the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon. His name in Old Babylonian Akkadian was Ḫammu-rāpi, and he would go on to become one of the most famous rulers of ancient Mesopotamia.

Image source: Hammurabi

Shamshi-Adad I expands Assyrian power in northern Mesopotamia

1800 BC

In northern Mesopotamia, the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I, who had already inherited centuries-old Assyrian colonies in Anatolia, expanded his territory into the Levant and central Mesopotamia. His untimely death would somewhat fragment his kingdom, altering the balance of power during Hammurabi's era.

Image source: Shamshi-Adad I

Hammurabi inherits the throne from Sin-Muballit

1792 BC

Hammurabi was an Amorite First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon who inherited power from his father, Sin-Muballit, around 1792 BC. He became the sixth king of his dynasty and began a reign that would last over four decades.

Reign and Conquests

Early reign: Babylon remains a minor power

1792 BC - 1765 BC

In the early years of his reign, Hammurabi ruled a relatively minor city-state that controlled little territory outside of Babylon itself. He spent these decades consolidating his position while larger kingdoms like Larsa, Eshnunna, and Assyria dominated Mesopotamian politics.

Hammurabi's long reign as sixth Amorite king of Babylon

1792 BC - 1750 BC

Hammurabi reigned as the sixth Amorite king of Babylon from around 1792 BC to around 1750 BC. Over more than forty years he transformed Babylon from a minor city-state into the capital of an empire encompassing much of Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi builds alliances with rival kingdoms

1780 BC - 1765 BC

During the middle portion of his reign, Hammurabi skillfully played rival powers against one another, forming alliances when convenient and breaking them when advantageous. This diplomatic maneuvering allowed him to preserve Babylon's independence while preparing for future expansion.

Hammurabi expands Babylonian territory through conquest

1765 BC - 1755 BC

In the later part of his reign, Hammurabi launched a series of military campaigns against neighboring states, conquering rivals across Mesopotamia. His victories brought cities such as Isin, Eshnunna, and Mari under Babylonian control.

Larsa fails to aid Hammurabi in war

1764 BC

Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid during a military campaign, Hammurabi turned against his southern neighbor. This betrayal set the stage for his invasion and annexation of the powerful kingdom of Larsa.

Hammurabi invades and annexes Larsa

1763 BC

Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi invaded and then annexed Larsa, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain around 1763 BC. This conquest made Babylon the dominant power in southern Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi controls all of lower Mesopotamia

1763 BC - 1750 BC

With the annexation of Larsa, Hammurabi gained control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain around 1763 BC. Babylon now stood at the center of a unified kingdom stretching across southern Mesopotamia.

Code of Hammurabi

Creation of the Code of Hammurabi

1755 BC - 1750 BC

Near the end of his reign, Hammurabi issued his famous law code, one of the earliest and best-preserved written legal codes in history. The laws were inscribed on a stele addressed to 'any future king' with the wish 'May he be given life forever!'

Image source: Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi inscribed on a diorite stele

1754 BC

The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a massive stele of polished diorite, depicting Hammurabi receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash. The text contained hundreds of laws governing commerce, property, family life, and justice.

Stele of the Code plundered by the Elamites and taken to Susa

1158 BC

The stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, Susa. There it remained for centuries until its rediscovery by archaeologists in the twentieth century.

Decline and Legacy

Hammurabi dies and is succeeded by Samsu-iluna

1750 BC

Hammurabi died around 1750 BC and was succeeded by his son Samsu-iluna. Although Samsu-iluna inherited a vast empire, it began to unravel within decades of his father's death.

Image source: Samsu-iluna

Puzur-Sin drives Amorites and Babylonians from Assyria

1740 BC

In northern Mesopotamia, both the Amorites and Babylonians were driven from Assyria by Puzur-Sin, a native Akkadian-speaking ruler, around 1740 BC. This marked the beginning of the fragmentation of Hammurabi's empire.

Hittite sack of Babylon ends the Amorite Dynasty

1595 BC

The coup de grace for Hammurabi's Amorite Dynasty occurred in 1595 BC, when Babylon was sacked and conquered by the powerful Hittite Empire, thereby ending all Amorite political presence in Mesopotamia.

Image source: Babylonia

Shutruk-Nakhunte raids Babylon and erases monument inscriptions

1158 BC

When the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte raided Babylon in 1158 BC and carried off many stone monuments, he had most of the inscriptions on these monuments erased and new inscriptions carved into them, erasing much of the record of earlier kings including Hammurabi.

Image source: Shutruk-Nakhunte

Legacy

Hammurabi's laws continue to be copied by scribes

1749 BC - 1600 BC

For centuries after his death, Hammurabi's laws continued to be copied by scribes as part of their writing exercises, and they were even partially translated into Sumerian. The code remained a foundational legal and educational text long after the fall of his dynasty.

Hammurabi recognized as a foundational figure in the history of law

2010

Since his rediscovery by archaeologists in the late nineteenth century, Hammurabi has been seen as an important figure in the history of law. His code influenced legal traditions across the ancient Near East, as shown by finds like the Hazor tablet, and continues to be studied worldwide today.

Modern Rediscovery

Archaeologists rediscover Hammurabi in the late 19th century

1880 - 1900

Hammurabi was rediscovered by archaeologists in the late 19th century and has since been seen as an important figure in the history of law. Excavations and decipherment of cuneiform texts brought his reign and achievements back to light.

Scholars identify Hammurabi with biblical Amraphel

1900 - 1920

In the early twentieth century, many scholars believed that Hammurabi was Amraphel, the King of Shinar mentioned in Genesis 14:1. This identification fueled intense scholarly debate about connections between the Bible and ancient Mesopotamia.

Image source: Amraphel

Code of Hammurabi becomes central to Babel und Bibel controversy

1900 - 1905

In the late nineteenth century, the Code of Hammurabi became a major center of debate in the heated Babel und Bibel ('Babylon and Bible') controversy in Germany over the relationship between the Bible and ancient Babylonian texts.

Image source: Panbabylonism

Rediscovery of the Code stele at Susa in Iran

1901

The stele of the Code of Hammurabi was rediscovered in 1901 at Susa in Iran, where it had been taken by Elamite plunderers centuries earlier. Its excavation revealed one of the most important legal documents of the ancient world.

Code of Hammurabi displayed in the Louvre Museum

1901

After its rediscovery at Susa in 1901, the stele of the Code of Hammurabi was transported to France and placed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it remains one of the museum's most celebrated artifacts.

Image source: Louvre

Delitzsch lectures Kaiser Wilhelm II on Hammurabi and Moses

Jan 1902

In January 1902, the German Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch gave a lecture at the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in front of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife in which he argued that the Mosaic Laws of the Old Testament were directly copied off the Code of Hammurabi.

Image source: Friedrich Delitzsch

Delitzsch's lecture sparks massive public response

Sep 1903

Delitzsch's lecture was so controversial that, by September 1903, he had managed to collect 1,350 short articles from newspapers and journals, over 300 longer ones, and twenty-eight pamphlets written in response to this lecture, as well as a preceding one about the Flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Kaiser distances himself from Delitzsch's radical views

1904

The Kaiser distanced himself from Delitzsch and his radical views, and in fall of 1904 Delitzsch was forced to give his third lecture in Cologne and Frankfurt am Main rather than in Berlin, signaling official disapproval of his claims.

Image source: Wilhelm II

Delitzsch publishes Die große Täuschung

1920 - 1921

The putative relationship between the Mosaic Law and the Code of Hammurabi became a major part of Delitzsch's argument in his 1920–21 book Die große Täuschung (The Great Deception), which claimed the Hebrew Bible was irredeemably contaminated by Babylonian influence and that only by eliminating the human Old Testament entirely could Christians believe in the true message of the New Testament.

Image source: Gilgamesh

Cuneiform tablet with laws derived from Hammurabi found at Hazor

2010

In 2010, a team of archaeologists from Hebrew University discovered a cuneiform tablet dating to the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC at Hazor in Israel containing laws clearly derived from the Code of Hammurabi, demonstrating the far-reaching influence of Hammurabi's legal tradition.

Image source: Tel Hazor

Key Facts

Hammurabi was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, reigning from around 1792 to 1750 BCE.
He is most famous for the Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest deciphered written legal codes in human history.
The Code of Hammurabi contained 282 laws inscribed on a diorite stele, covering topics like trade, property rights, family law, and criminal justice.
His code introduced the principle of 'lex talionis' (the law of retaliation), famously summarized as 'an eye for an eye.'
Under his rule, Babylon became the dominant political power in Mesopotamia through military conquests and strategic alliances.

Source

This Hammurabi timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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