Legal Aspects of Military Service in Ancient Mesopotamia

• Author: by Victor H. Mattheas
• Pages: 04

In this arhele, Professor .Matthem, a hzstarian, discusses mdi!my admtnistratire law tn the ancient Middle East. Information about this law iias been gleaned by archeologists from day tablets onginally prepared apprommately thzrty-eight eentaries ago. These tablets cere the offiemi records of the gauernment ofHammurabi ofBabylon, arid of the ancient kingdom of Man.

1. INTRODUCTION

   The cuneiform documents unearthed in what was ancient Mesopotamia tell af a seemingly endless series of wars. It was ap-parently the duty of the kings to (11 establish an undisputed rule over their traditional territory, and (2) expand the boundaries of that territory at the expense of their neighbors. The citizens of Babylon and its allied cities were repeatedly called to war by their sovereigns. The fact that they did not ahays go gladly is evident from the number of letters and legal pronouncements that have

   * Thia ani& 18 bared upon P paper presenied b) the author at the annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History, held in Philadelphia, P a , m October of 1980

   The opinions and condu~ion~presented m this ~rfnleare fhoae of the author

   and do not necessarily represent the VIU,J of The Judge Advocate General's School. the Department of the Amy, 01 any other governmental agene?.

   ** Aasiifsnt Professor. Hialory Department. Anderson College, Anderson. South Carolina. 1980 to present h i l i n g mdstmt profeasor of history and religion. Clemion University. Clemson, S.C.. i978-1930 I

   A,, 1973, and Ph D , 1911. Brandeis University Author of PaStoiai Yomadtm in lhe Mart Kingdom, ca i880-1750 B C American Sehoola of Oriental Research Dissertntion Series. No 3 (1978); Government lnual~.rmint tn the Religion oilhe .Man Kingdom. 72 Revue d'iiisyriolagie 161.166 (1978): The Role olthc ?obi Aml~mim %n the Man Kingdom, 38 J. Sear Eastern Stvdieb 129-333 (1979); Post~~olzatsand Paln- mchs. 44 Biblical Archeologist 215-218 (1981). Ca-author, rifh D.W.

   Young. of

   The ratson d'eirr ofthe ~ugdgunl at Mmt, 46 Orientalin 122-126 (1977)

   been uncovered which deal with the questions of conscription, desertion, and veterans' rights. It w~ll be the aim of this study to dis-cuss some of these documents and the people the) were designed to influence.

   Prior to examination of the texts, mention must be made of the nature of the materials to be examined. The documents primad!-relied upon by the present author are the "Laws of Hammurabi"' and letters from the royal archire of Mari.? These both date to the period ca. 1830-1710 B.C. They are government documents and as such present a particular, and at times one-sided, view af their kingdoms on the Euphrates Riyer. This view i.r distinctly urban, xenophobic, and paternalistic in character

   The bureaucraticall~-oriented cultures of ancient ?iIeaapotamia here buried ad deeply in forms, vouchers, and legal text3 as our own culture is today The large number af legal documents, nearly ail following a set attest to the ordered existence of this ciriiization. Among the earliest clay tablets (ca. 2100 B C.) are records of legal tranaactions involving the sale of slaves, land. and other ~roperty.~

   These individual documents, however, are basically

   ZHeremsfter referred 10 m text and note8 a8 LH. lHermaFter referred to m text and notes a& ARM

   I the name of an mcienf Mesapoiaminn city near the Euphrates River madern S)rm IS presently called Tell Harin. and 1% seven mlles nbave 1. near the border with Iraq Marl UBI pupulnled ~pprarlmatels from

   26W B C fa 1110 B.C.

   Marl K.BI an important polirieal and economic center

   independent 8me before the rise and expansion of fhempires Although not ab well known ab lome other m e inrerest to archeologists because of the discover) of en archive iantslnlng thou-sands of uell-preserved clay tablets bearing eunelfarm 1mcrlp~ions These tshieis proride detailed informnlion about the day-to.da) eeommlr, rellgloub. pullfreal. and ~oeisl activities of the city Jaequetia Hawkes, Atlas of Ancient Archedoe) 116 (1974)'A Leo Oppenheim. Ancient Meaopofnmia 261 (2d ed 1916). Oppenheim deaeribes this net farm n~ p m e m lona itft~vi

   88 II was used co train acribes Id Srr a180 Martin BUSS, The Drsfinclion belwrrn C~vrland Cnminol Lar m Anrienf Is-ms1, 1 Proceedrngs af the Sixth Warld Cangrew ofJerlah Studlee 59-60 (1911) far a dlacusilon ofthe form of daaumenfr m bath criminal and evil c ~ b e b .A Leo Oppenheim, note 3, aupra. 282

   19811 >IESOPOTA3fIA.. MILITARY LAW

   unrelated to the so-called "Law Codes" of Hammurahi and other Mesopotamian kings.

   11. LAW CODES AND JUDICIAL DECISIONSThe exact function of the "codes" in ancient society has been a long-standing source of speculation. Suggestions range from "a Series of amendments to the common law of to "a codification and reform. but of a utoDian nature."B Most recentlr. Tikva Frymer-Kenrky has described them a8

   phy, not prescriptive law codes."?

   "statement8 of legal philoso- Whether or not the "codes" were used merely as written summaries of traditionally unalterable, although in fact amended, common law, is another matter. There are many existing copies of Hammurahi's laws which date both to his own time and to later perioda. Even in the Old Babylonian-era copies there are textual variants. In some cmes, these probably reflect attempts to update grammatical changes or they demonstrate variants in the spoken language.8 Another indication of the codes' lack of complete rigidity is that Some punishments. especially those for thefi, which were called for in the "codes," were not carried out.' This may reflect the continued ex-istence of a separate common-law tradition, which in Some eases held precedence over the kings It may also he evidence of the fact that individual cases cannot always be dealt with strictly in accordance with the letter of the law.

   ~

   ".A,, Spelser, Eaily Lor m d

   Ciuifiaolian. 31 Cannd. B Rev 866 (1953)

   'T. Fish. Lax and Riligim n Bobjlonra and Assyna. 3 Judaism and Chnstiani- fy 40 (1986)

   ,T Frymer-Kenakg. Tit 07 Tat The Pnncipk o/ Equal Retribution ~n 4rai Eoilem and Btblicai Lor. 43 Biblical Archeologist 231 (1980)'J.J. Fmkelsrein, A Late Old Babylonian Cop# afihr Laws o/Homrnumbr, 21 J of Cuneiform Studies 42 (1967).'G. Boyer, Aifrrirs 7 r t 22 du code de Hommuraba. 6 Publicstians de I'lnsfitufe de dralt romain lS7 11950))OW.

   F Leemane, Somi Aspects of Thrfl and Robbery ~n Old Bobylonw?i Docu-ments, 32 Revista deeli sfudi orientall 666 (1957).

   WILITARY LAW REVIEF LVOL. 91

   In any case. it ia generally agreed that law was of prima*? mterest to the monarch. It appears that one reapansibility of the king was to shoi\- evidence to the gods of being a Sar nzesari,,~. "just king."" To do this he utilized a gift of the gods, the perception of kiltdm "jytice." The king. of all men. was thereby "capable of promulgating laws that are in accord or harmony with the cosmic principle of iii??~m."'~

   Thus, the edicts of the king. mlinrvni

   Yrightings"), were intended to address the social and economic needs of his time,l3

   Society does not remain static forever, and rhere must be some mechanism through nhieh the king can make periodic adjustments in the law For Instance, in the issuing of s,rilddta, standing orders of the kine."" the monarch could make allowances for needed modifications in legal custom, including tarlff8 and...