Hammurabi Research Paper

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In the year 1792 BCE, the great Babylonian king Hammurabi came into power. He would come to change Mesopotamia in the 42 years he would reign. His rule was filled with victorious wars which resulted in the first unification of Mesopotamia under a single ruler, and one such victory eventually led to Babylon’s defeat. Although Hammurabi’s leadership led Babylon to be one of the major powers in western Asia, his legacy was the fall of Babylonia at the hands of the Kassite. After his father Sim-muballit’s death, Hammurabi gained kingship over Babylon during a complex geopolitical situation, with Eshnunna and Larsa controlling the upper and delta of the Tigris river, respectively. Babylon itself was located in the Mesopotamian plains among other…show more content…
This led to a brief clash with Rim-sin, but Hammurabi later turned his attentions to towards the northwest and the east. During the next twenty years, the kingdoms Mari, Larsa, Ashur, Eshnunna, and Babylon formed an uneasy alliance, during which time Hammurabi fortified some of his northern borders. In the last fourteen years of his reign, Hammurabi struck out against the major powers of Mesopotamia. He first attacked the alliance of Ashur, Eshnunna, and Elam, who were the main powers east of the Tigris river. After conquering them, he attacked Rim-sin of Larsa using a strategy his father had used: damming up the river and either releasing the built-up water into a flood or simply withholding the precious resource. It proved to be successful, and Larsa fell to Babylon. Hammurabi then attacked his longtime ally, the Marian king Zimrillim. The reasoning behind this attack is unknown, though it is thought that it could be that Hammurabi wanted to gain control over Mari’s advantageous locations. Another possibility is that they were fighting over water rights. Whatever the reason, Hammurabi emerged successful and Mari, along with other eastern powers, was added to the Babylonian

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