decisions were made in the past on cases similar to one now before
him. But, like their Babylonian predecessor, the Hittite Laws served
purely as guidelines, not as prescriptive rulings, leaving much to the
judge’s own discretion. And the highly selective nature of the Laws
left untouched many areas where legal action could arise. Either
these were covered elsewhere, or were decided purely on their
merits by whoever happened to be the presiding judge.
In regional and rural districts of the homeland, the
administration of justice was one of the responsibilities performed
by town or village authorities known as Councils of Elders. Their
membership probably drawn from the heads of prominent local
families, these councils were obliged to work closely with the
regional governor, called theBĒL MADGALTI. The governor’s
many duties included the oversight or dispensation of justice in the
region where he was appointed. Though the local councils may
have had authority to deal on their own with cases of a minor
nature, the more serious cases were probably referred to the
governor during his regular tours of inspection of his region.
On such occasions, he no doubt presided over local courts with the
mayor and members of the village council acting as his advisers.
One major difference between Hammurabi’s Laws and the later
Hittite collection is that the former were supposedly divinely
inspired, particularly by Shamash, god of justice, who appears in
company with Hammurabi at the top of the Louvre column. Divine
endorsement is also bestowed on the Babylonian document in
both the prologue and the epilogue attached to it. In the latter,
Hammurabi emphasises one of his Laws’most important purposes,
to ensure that the strong do not oppress the weak, and that justice is
provided for the waif and the widow – that is, for the most
vulnerable members of society.
By contrast, there is no explicit social or philosophical rationale
appended to the Hittite Laws, nor any suggestion that they were
divinely inspired or endorsed. They are a plain, straightforward
secular document, without prologue or epilogue. Nonetheless, their
underlying social and moral intent is often implicit in the nature of
some of their specific clauses. The obligations and responsibilities
imposed upon the local governor as the administrator of justice in
128 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA