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of his rule rested on a divine mandate to do justice. It has been
suggested that the stele of the Laws of Hammurabi was a royal
apologia addressed to the gods with the laws as evidence of that
king’s fulfillment of his divine mandate “to make equity prevail in
the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong
from oppressing the weak.”^10 Justice in this context had two facets:
to uphold traditional law (kittum) and to temper the harsh letter of
the law with equity (mì“arum). An example of the former is Hammurabi’s
rhetorical question to an official when ordering the restoration of a
wrongfully expropriated family estate: “... When is a permanent
property ever expropriated?” (AbB 4 16). The remark appeals to an
established principle of law. The latter is reflected in the right of
subjects to petition the king when the normal machinery of justice
had failed them but receives its strongest expression in the debt-
release decrees, whereby the king canceled existing obligations aris-
ing from perfectly legal loan transactions. That act was called by
the king “establishing equity (mì“arum) for the land.”^112.1.2 Legislature
Although there is no evidence of the existence of a legislature, in
the sense of an assembly that proposed, advised upon, or ratified
legislation, orders were issued by the king (ßimdat “arrim/awat “arrim),
which could be of general application.^12 Thus an order of King
Samsu-iluna of Babylon banned purchase of citizens of certain cities
from the Sutean nomads (AbB 3 1). Again, the prime example is
the debt-release decrees, which applied in part to the whole citizen
body, in part to all the citizens of particular cities. They were pro-
mulgated through a solemn ceremony, enforced through an ad hoc
administrative apparatus, and their application gave rise to a great
deal of litigation.^13 There is no clear evidence, on the other hand,
for application of the law codes, the legislative character of which
has been disputed by some scholars (see Introduction).(^10) Finkelstein, “Edict.. .,” 103.
(^11) See Kraus, Verfügungen..., 6–7.
(^12) All references are discussed by Veenhof, “Relation...”
(^13) See Olivier, “Effectiveness.. .,” 107–13.
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