The Codex Hammurabi, part of the Prologue, read by Albert Naccache
With the kind permission of Professor Martha Roth, the translation below is taken from her work Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (Atlanta, 1995), with minor modifications. The transcription is based on the transliteration in R. Borger, Babylonisch-assyrische Lesestücke (Rome, 2005), vol. 1.
A transcription of the passage into the Arabic alphabet (provided by the reader) (Not available)
A translation of the passage which repects the original word order (provided by the reader) (Not available)
| Original Transcription | English Translation |
|---|---|
| īnu anum ṣīrum šar anunnakī ellil bēl šamê u erṣetim šāim šīmāt mātim ana marduk māri rēštîm ša ea (illilūt) kiššat nišī išīmušum | When the august god Anum, king of the Anunnakū deities, and the god Enlil, lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destinies of the land, allotted supreme power over all people to the god Marduk, the firstborn son of Ea, |
| in igigī ušarbiušu | exalted him among the Igigū-deities, |
| bābilam šumšu ṣīram ibbiu | named the city of Babylon with its august name, |
| in kibrātim ušāterušu | made it supreme within the regions of the world, |
| ina libbišu šarrūtam darītam ša kīma šamê u erṣetim išdāša šuršudā ukinnušum | and within it established for him eternal kingship whose foundations are as fixed as heaven and earth, |
| inūmišu hammurabi rubâm na'dam pālih ilī yâti | At that time: me, Hammurabi, the pious prince who venerates the gods, |
| mīšaram ina mātim ana šupîm | to make justice prevail in the land, |
| raggam u ṣēnam ana hulluqim | to abolish the wicked one and the evil, |
| dannum enšam ana lā habālim | so that the strong would not oppress the weak, |
| kīma šamaš ana ṣalmāt qaqqadim waṣêm-ma | to rise like the sun-god Shamash over all humankind, |
| mātim nuwwurim | to illuminate the land, |
| anum u ellil ana šīr nišī ṭubbim šumī ibbû | the gods Anu and Enlil, to secure the well-being of the people, named my name. |