King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography by Marc Van De Mieroop
TITLE: King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography
AUTHOR: Marc Van De Mieroop
DATE PUBLISHED: 2004
FORMAT: Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781405126601
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DESCRIPTION:
"This book presents the first biography written in English of the famous Babylonian lawgiver, King Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750 BC. It presents a well-rounded view of this ancient Mesopotamian king's accomplishments, by drawing on the extensive writings of his time, including those by Hammurabi himself. Numerous letters and reports by ambassadors to his court and others are presented in translation.Marc Van De Mieroop traces Hammurabi's career as a diplomat and conqueror, describing how he dealt with powerful rivals and extended his kingdom to create the large state of Babylon. He explores the administration of the kingdom and looks at the legacies of Hammurabi's rule, especially his legal code, the earliest complete body of legal instructions in world history.The book demonstrates how Hammurabi's conquests irrevocably changed the political organization of the Middle East and shows that Hammurabi was long remembered by the ancient Mesopotamians as one of the greatest kings of the past."
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REVEIW:
A short, concise biography of Hammurabi, focusing on his military exploits, diplomatic relationships with other city-states in the region, and his "law code". There isn't very much information available on Hammurabi so we don't know anything about his family life. The author includes a chapter on the difficulties of writing a biography with limited information. Interesting.
