In our previous video we discussed the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur and its collapse
at the hands of Amorite invaders from the west. The subsequent period of political fragmentation
was one of regional conflict - with the Amorite Shamshi-Adad and his dynasty ruling in the
north, while the Eshnunna dominated central Mesopotamia and Larsa reigned over the south.
Many names from this period are a mystery to the general public, but that of Babylon
is a notable exception. Under one of its most famous kings - Hammurabi, this new entity
would rise to unify the entire region in a new Empire - eclipsing the previous civilisations
to the point where Sumer and Akkad were simply known as Babylonia. Welcome to our video on
the rise of Babylon.
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The settlement that would become Babylon - known as Babbar at the time, was possibly inhabited
as a minor and unimportant town as soon as the Early Dynastic Period from 2900 to 2350
BC. Its ruler styled himself as the builder of a temple dedicated to the god Marduk, the
patron of the future illustrious city. The first definite mention of Babylon in historical
sources occurs during the reign of Akkadian King Shar-Kali-Sharri, during which he laid
the foundations of a temple in the city. Later during the Third Dynasty of Ur, King Shulgi
reorganised the lands of Sumer and Akkad into 20 provinces, each governed by a local ensi.
This and the wider bureaucratic control exerted by the Ur III Kings eventually led to profound
long-term changes in the region, which would eventually result in it becoming capital of
one of the core provinces in the Neo-Sumerian Empire. It was also governed by an ensi which
could have been hereditary in certain situations. Itur-ilum, his son Issur-ilum and Abba were
all part of the same family, which indicates the presence of native local rulers in Babylon.
In the late 21st century BC, increasing numbers of Amorite pastoralists began to migrate east
and make their homes in the settled civilisations of Mesopotamia. This wave of migration played
a key role in the fall of Ur and, in the political fragmentation that followed, an Amorite chief
known as Sumu-Abum usurped the kingship and established the First Babylonian Dynasty in
1894 BC. His successor - Sumu-la-el, took power in 1880 BC and expanded this kingdom
even further to encompass an area from Sippar in the north to Marad in the south, encompassing
many prominent old cities such as Kish - whose walls he demolished in order to consolidate
Babylonian hegemony. During his reign the first indisputable evidence for the Cult of
Marduk was also documented, when during 1860 BC a throne of gold and silver was fashioned
for the Babylonian Sky God in the city. Three future kings, Sabium, Apil-Sin and Sin-muballit
reigned over a subsequent half century of relative stability.
Before we discuss Hammurabi himself we must first speak of the broader political situation
in Sumer and Akkad into which he would emerge. We covered the exploits of the northern Amorite
kingdoms in our previous video, however the Sumerian south was also a battleground. As
the Third Ur Dynasty weakened, an official named Ishbi-Erra - who served the final Ur
king Ibbi-Sin, betrayed his master and established his own power base at Isin. After the Elamites
sacked Ur in 2,002BC, it was he who recaptured it and expelled the foreign Elamites from
the region. For this, his opportunistically created Isin Dynasty earned the official endorsement
of the Nippur priesthood as Ur III’s heirs. For upwards of half a century this clan possessed
hegemony over Sumer and Akkad, however its fortunes would begin to change with the emergence
of yet another Amorite leader named Gungunum - who reigned from 1932 to 1906 BC. He seems
to have been the governor of Larsa - city of the Mesopotamian sun god Utu, during Isin
rule. This governor eventually revolted from his native rulers and eventually captured
the former royal capital of Ur, gaining himself a massive ideological and financial victory.
Therefore, by the middle of the 19th century BC it was Babylon and Larsa which constituted
the rising powers in Sumer and Akkad. In fact, they had already clashed in a series of small
engagements, with the Babylonian Kings using diplomatic marriages with the tribally related
Sixth Uruk Dynasty as a buffer against the powerful Larsa in the south.
After a short period of internal strife, a dynasty of Amorites from East of the Tigris
under Kudur-Mabuk took Larsa and deposed Gungunum’s descendant in 1834 BC. Rather than ruling
the realm himself, he would take a ceremonial position as ‘Father of the Amorite Country’
and appointed his eldest son Warad-Sin to rule in his name, in a similar manner to Shamshi-Adad’s
earlier trimorphic empire. In 1822 BC Rim-Sin succeeded his older brother and would begin
a crusade to expand his own kingdom. This lesser known ruler became so powerful that
he defeated a coalition of Uruk, Isin, Sutium, Rapiqum and Babylon - under Hammurabi’s
father, in 1810 BC. Eight years later in 1802 BC he captured Uruk and ended the dynasty
ruled by Babylon’s allies. By the end of the 19th century BC, control of the prosperous
city of Ur and the Persian Gulf trade granted Larsa a sudden period of prosperity, which
can be seen in the remnants of large private houses in the city throughout this period.
Finally, in 1794 BC Rim-Sin extinguished the remnant of the Isin Dynasty and annexed their
territory, an event which was so important to the kings of Larsa that every year after
it was named in its honour. By the time Hammurabi’s father Sin-muballit perished in 1793 BC, Larsa
controlled all of Sumer and wielded significant power.
The next year – 1792 BC, saw Hammurabi finally ascend to the throne of Babylon at the age
of 18. He inherited a rising state, and his ancestors had gradually conquered cities such
as Borsippa, Kish and Sippar. Despite this, Babylon was still far from the most important
of the many realms in the region when Hammurabi took power. The expansionist Eshnunna occupied
Babylon’s northeastern border, the aforementioned powerful state of Larsa under Rim-Sin was
to their south and the foreign nation of Elam was to the east. At the time, the main power
in the region was the Upper Mesopotamian Kingdom under Shamshi-Adad, which often cooperated
with the new, apparently subservient Babylonian King. The monarchs often performed small favours
for one another - such as sheltering persecuted diplomats or extraditing criminals who escaped
to the others’ territory. While this alliance of sorts had its benefits, the presence of
Shamshi-Adad to the north hemmed Hammurabi in and prevented any kind of Babylonian expansion
under Hammurabi for many years. Instead, the king focused on being a magnanimous and generous
monarch in the mold of Gudea from centuries earlier. Pleasing the god Inanna - otherwise
known as Ishtar in Akkadian, by commissioning a throne of gold, silver, precious stones
and Lapis Lazuli was a noted achievement, as well as ‘establishing justice in the
land’ - that is, cancelling all debts which citizens would often accumulate. This establishment
of justice had the secondary effect of rendering the debtors loyal to him, rather than their
wealthy creditors. For 28 years Hammurabi focused on the internal
development of his city, reorganising many aspects of the economy and the aforementioned
kingly tasks. However, a conflict would soon be ignited which would eventually propel Babylon
to never before seen heights in Mesopotamia. By this time, Shamshi-Adad’s Empire had
fallen and Zimri-Lim of Mari had usurped his incompetent younger son Yasmah-Adad from his
co-royal capital. In early 1767 the supreme king of Elam - the Sukkalmah Siwe-Palar-Huppak
made an alliance with Zimri-Lim. Their common ground centred around the expansionist state
of Eshnunna. It blocked Elamite expansion into Mesopotamia and also meddled in the affairs
of Mari’s sphere of influence, so they allied against it - sealing their alliance with an
exchange of gold, silver and wine from Mari and tin from Elam - which was a key resource
in the production of bronze. In late 1766 BC the alliance attacked Eshnunna and, while
the details are vague, it is clear that the king of the city disappeared and the local
king of Susa, the Sukkal, instead took up occasional residence in the city. From there,
he would impose direct rule upon the cities of Mesopotamia under the Elamites - a practice
which they had not taken part in before, instead preferring to raid and loot the wealthy Euphrates-Tigris
basin. The Elamite occupiers now schemed further, embarking on a dangerous diplomatic gamble.
They contacted both Hammurabi of Babylon and Rim-Sin of Larsa, commanding both rulers to
provide troops with which to attack the other. Unfortunately for the foreign Elamites, the
two rulers apparently compared notes, perhaps motivated by their common Mesopotamian culture,
and realised the attempted foreign duplicity, resulting in both of these realms exchanging
diplomats and joining forces. In early 1765 BC events occured on two fronts
- both north and south. In the north, the Elamites sent several proxy armies of troops
from Elam, Eshnunna and mercenaries from the Zagros mountains to assault northern Mesopotamia
- commanded by client kings of Elam in the north. This maneuver led to a few years of
back and forth conflict during which the Sukkulmah ruined his previously established alliance
with Mari. Meanwhile to the south, Hammurabi decisively reacted to a threat from the king
of Susa who coveted Babylon itself, and intended to seize it. Calling upon the many cities
and kingdoms of the region, Hammurabi managed to head a grand alliance of Mesopotamia - including
Yamhad, Ekallatum and most of the Akkadian city-states. Most prominently was Zimri-Lim
of Mari, who sealed a pact with the Babylonian in the middle of 1765 BC, which included the
words ‘From this day on, for as long as I live, I will be at war with Siwe-palar-huppak’.
The Mari king’s subsequent active levying of both urban and nomadic troops for Hammurabi
can be understood due to the Elamite intervention in northern Mesopotamia - it is likely he
saw Babylon as a dagger with which to stab the foreign invaders. In gratitude for this
generous assistance, Hammurabi granted monetary rewards to the soldiers even before they fought
and invited all of them to feast in his presence, in order to make them feel welcome in the
foreign land. Notably absent from the Anti-Elam alliance was Larsa, who remained neutral.
The first move was made by Sukkul Kudu-zulush, king of Susa, who advanced into Babylonian
lands and put the city of Upi under siege. This assault pushed Hammurabi to conscript
even the merchants into the military, who were usually exempt due to their valued profession.
He also sent repeated envoys to Rim-Sin of Larsa asking for help, but was met with stony
silence as the only response. Initially the Babylonian garrison in the city resisted the
foreign invaders, but eventually they boarded ships and fled after an amount of time during
which they realised the city would not be relieved. After capturing Upi the Elamites
did not advance further west and instead withdrew to Eshnunna. At the start of the campaigning
season in 1764 BC the Elamites returned, crossed the Tigris at Mankisum and besieged the city
of Hiritum with 30,000 men, assault ramps and other siege engines. However, this attempt
was undermined by the inhabitants of the city, who opened the irrigation canals around the
city, flooding the siege weaponry away. At the same time, an allied army under a Mari
general attacked the invading army from behind and relieved Hiritum. As these defensive actions
were conducted, allied offensives were also underway. Hammurabi sent multiple raiding
forces to outflank and pillage the countryside of Eshnunna, setting fire to their fields
and stealing cattle. These defeats, constant Babylonian pressure, possibly disloyal allied
Eshnunna officers and internal dissent all caused the Elamites to retreat into their
own lands. Hammurabi had used his diplomatic prowess to rally an alliance to his side and
repel a dangerous enemy, and now he had a free hand to pursue further plans in the region.
During the war against Elam, Rim-Sin had remained neutral, ignoring Hammurabi’s repeated requests
for assistance, despite their alliance. This irritated the Babylonian, who now wanted revenge
against his main competitor. Finally, in 1763 BC, Hammurabi declared war on Rim-Sin, justifying
it as a pre-emptive act authorised by the gods. He still had Mari’s crucial support,
and besieged and captured Mashkan-Shapir relatively quickly, followed by Nippur and Isin during
the middle of 1763 BC, after which he advanced on Larsa. After a 6-month siege, the inhabitants
of Larsa ran out of food, and Hammurabi tore down the city walls, but did not raze the
city. Rim-Sin initially escaped, but was soon captured and killed. The Babylonian king then
cancelled debts in the newly captured city as he had in his capital. The fundamental
political makeup of Sumer and Akkad had now changed forever. City states were no longer
the standard unit of the region, replaced by a Babylonia which would continuously form
a large territorial state from this point forward. However, Hammurabi’s Empire still
had not reached its zenith, and its achievements which we shall discuss in our next video secured
its place in history.
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