REVIEW OF THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON UR-NAMMU’S CODE
Abstract
The Sumerian civilization left us, among their many achievements, the oldest preserved law code – the Code of Ur-Nammu, over four millennia old. Seeing how this legal code is mainly of a secular nature, the connection between it and the polytheistic Sumerian religion seems indirect at first sight. However, religion is, in fact, one of the crucial factors which allows us to understand both this one and the later cuneiform law codes. The religious influence is most prominent in the prologue of the legal code, which depicts the ruler as a god incarnate. The legislator uses religion, which had an enormous influence on daily life in all ancient
civilizations, as a powerful tool which could help him achieve his goal – placing all segments of society under his command. It exerted less influence on the norms of the legal code, though even there the contents are not entirely secular. The religious base is found in two provisions concerning the ordeal by water, an irrational judicial practice established on the belief that a god, as supreme judge, would not allow the lawbreaker to avoid punishment. Finally, one norm which concerns the oath is directly connected to religion.
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