Texts in Conversation
In the Code of Hammurabi, Hammurabi asks Shamash to annul the law of any king who alters his monument and Sin to burden him with guilt. In the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon, the same gods are asked to punish oath-breakers with skin disease and injustice.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi epilogue
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East, Babylonian
If this ruler does not value my words, despises my curses, does not fear the curse of the gods, abolishes the law I have given, corrupts my words, alters my monument, erases my name and writes his own name there, or because of the curses orders someone else to do so, then may the great god Anu, the father of the gods, who ordained my rule, take from that man the glory of royalty, whether he is a king, a lord, a governor, or a commoner, break his scepter, and curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord who fixes destiny, whose command cannot be altered, who has made my kingdom great, stir up against him a rebellion that his hand cannot control. May he let the wind of the overthrow of his dwelling blow; may he decree for him years of groaning in his rule, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, and death with seeing eyes. May Bel order with his mighty mouth the destruction of his city, the scattering of his subjects, the cutting off of his rule, and the complete erasure of his name and memory from the land. May Belit, the great mother, whose command carries weight in E-Kur, the mistress who graciously hears my prayers, turn his affairs to evil before Bel in the place of judgment and decision, and put into the mouth of King Bel the devastation of his land, the destruction of his subjects, and the pouring out of his life like water. May Ea, the great ruler, whose decrees of destiny come to pass, the thinker among the gods, the all-knowing, who lengthens the days of my life, take from him understanding and wisdom and lead him into forgetfulness; may he shut up his rivers at their sources and let no grain or food for man grow in his land. May Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, who sustains all living things, the lord of courage and life, shatter his dominion, annul his law, destroy his way, make the march of his troops fail, and send him visions foretelling the uprooting of the foundations of his throne and the destruction of his land. May the condemnation of Shamash overtake him at once; may he be deprived of water above, among the living, and of his spirit below, in the earth. May Sin, the lord of heaven, the divine father, whose crescent gives light among the gods, take away from him the crown and the throne of kingship, and lay on him heavy guilt and great decay, so that nothing is lower than he.
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §§37–42
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
414 May Aššur, king of the gods, who decrees [the fates], decree an evil and unpleasant fate for you. May he not gra[nt yo]u long-lasting old age and the attainment of extreme old age. 417 May Mullissu, his beloved wife, make the utterance of his mouth evil, may she not intercede for you. 418A May Anu, king of the gods, let disease, exhaustion, malaria, sleeplessness, worries and ill health rain upon all your houses. 419 May Sin, the brightness of heaven and earth, clothe you with leprosy and forbid your entering into the presence of the gods or king. Roam the desert like the wild-ass and the gazelle! 422 May Šamaš, the light of heaven and earth, not judge you justly. May he remove your eyesight. Walk about in darkness! 425 May Ninurta, the foremost among the gods, fell you with his fierce arrow; may he fill the plain with your blood and feed your flesh to the eagle and the vulture. 428 May Venus, the brightest of the stars, before your eyes make your wives lie in the lap of your enemy; may your sons not take possession of your house, but a strange enemy divide your goods.
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Notes and References
“... Sin and Shamash (also major deities in the Babylonian pantheon), who are juxtaposed here, almost always appear together in other texts as well; in the Esarhaddon inscriptions, for example, these gods are even referred to as twins. The plague of leprosy mentioned in the Assyrian curse is the plague always associated with the god Sin, while the curse of darkness, which here symbolizes the absence of law and justice and which follows the curse of leprosy, is the punishment inflicted by Shamash, the sun god as well as the god of law and justice. [...] The close association of the two is also encountered in other treaty texts and in execrations inscribed on Babylonian kudurru stones. [...] The curses are likewise found in close sequence in the Code of Hammurabi: ‘May Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth ... not render his judgement. . . . May Sin, the lord of heaven, lay upon him heavy guilt (and, in consequence) with his great punishment which will not disappear from his body.’ The expression ‘great punishment’ [...] refers to the plague of leprosy. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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