The Code of Ur-Nammu, The Most Important Document That You Were Never Taught About

Introduction

In your high school history course, you probably learned about the first legal code, Hammurabi’s Code.  I know I did.  But in this article, I’ll display that that history class was wrong.   Although Hammurabi’s code was one of the most influential written legal codes it’s not even close to the first.  It’s not even the second!  That true first legal code is the code of Ur-Namma.  This article will look at the Ur-Nammu, his code, and its significance.  

Historical Context 

Although the Akkadian Empire was the first empire, it did not last long.  An invasion by the Gutians of West Asia led to the fall of the Akkadians and the Gutians took Uruk and ruled for some time.   The Gutians did not have a written language and had different religious views than the Sumerians they ruled over.  Suffice to say, they were not popular.  The king of Uruk at the time, Uta-Hegel led a revolt and won.  But Uta-Hegel didn’t get to rule his kingdom for long as he died through drowning.   Kingship then passed to Ur-Nammu, governor of Ur and son-in-law of Uta-Hegel.  He continued the fight against the Gutians and took back cities such as Eridu.  

Ur-Nammu was in an interesting position.  After the revolt, Ur-Nammu seems to have attempted to present himself as somewhat benevolent. He wouldn’t refer to his conquests as “conquering”, rather he’d say he was “liberating” the places he took over.  Amanda Podany writes that:

“He presented himself as a king  who had the welfare of his people uppermost in his thoughts.”

He would also make large ziggurats in various cities which took up to thousands of men, two million baked bricks, and five million sun-dried bricks to build  

One such way Ur-Nammu worked towards the welfare of his people is by issuing a written legal code, for the first time ever.  We do not have the original Steele but we do have clay copies.  Here is a link to a PDF of the code

The Code Itself

  The code begins with a prologue that details Ur-Nammu's rise as given by the gods It then claims he “establish equity in the land” and discusses some other achievements of his.  We can already see an attempt to portray himself as benevolent in this prologue.  The laws themselves start pretty basic.  

“1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed. 

2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed.”

We also see some more intense laws on slavery

“5. If a slave marries a native (i.e. free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner.”

One can see how this code works as a predecessor to the code of Hammurabi.  Both codes are formatted the same way (prologue then a list of laws).  One can also see clear differences 

“18. If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out ½ a mina of silver.”

This is a far cry from Hammurabi's eye for an eye

Significance of The Code

The biggest significance of the code is that it’s the first written legal code.  That’s considered enough significance to teach the code of Hammurabi; it should be significant enough to teach the code of Ur-Nammu.  But further,  Ur Nammu represents a new type of ruler that is still important today.  One that has to focus on how people view him, perhaps as a reaction to potential further revolutions.  The code of Ur-Nammu is one part of this.  

Further, the code of Ur-Nammu is the inspiration for future important documents.  The Code of Hammurabi undeniably takes inspiration from Ur-Nammu's code.  Further, the Bible has been argued to gain legal inspiration from these Near Eastern codes which all draw back from the code of Ur-Nammu.  

The code is undeniably one of the most important codes in the ancient Near East, and perhaps in all of history.  Its clear significance deserves a place in history classes and laypeople's knowledge.  

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