amorite-kings

"Icme-Dagan, provider of Nibru, constant attendant of Urim, he who is daily in the service of g; en priest of Unug, king of Isin."

"May Ninurta look upon Icme-Dagan [...] with a life-giving gaze!"

"Uta-ulu, riding on fearsome radiance, [...] greatest amongt the great lords! [...] Ninurta, perfect in authority, caretaker of heaven and earth, [...] Lord who was given great strength by Nunamnir, confident in his strength, striding into battle!"

"Adviser, whose decisions cannot be countermanded! Ninurta, whose utterances are firm! Hero, lord, august son of Enlil! [...] Ninurta, prominent in the E-kur."

"August Nibru! No deity excels like your lord and lady! They are powerful princes; they are brilliantly revealed deities. No deity excels like Enlil or Ninlil! They are powerful princes; they are lords who can decide destinies. In your midst they have given divine powers to king Enki. Nibru, your holy songs are exceptionally precious, surpassing all praise! I, Icme-Dagan, have placed them in everyone's mouths for all time."

"He made the people follow the proper path, and ousted the enemy from . He removed the wicked tongues, and made justice shine forth like copper. That fathers should be feared and mothers respected, that sons should pay heed to the words of their fathers, and that mercy, compassion and pity should be shown, that one should provide even one's paternal grandparents with food and drink -- all this he established in Sumer and . Then she made Icme-Dagan, the son of Enlil, the en priest of Unug, into their guardian -- this is what Inana, the lady of heaven and earth, did; and the great An declared his consent."

"In , the royal city, Icme-Dagan, [...] for you in masterly fashion a fifty-headed battle-mace to destroy the rebel lands, chosen for your great power. For you he gave it fifty names."

"[The] foremost of the gods, omniscient [...] Enki, counsellor of holy An. [...] Adviser, whose statements cannot be countermanded. [...] Patient-hearted, who rides upon all the divine powers. [...] Lord imbued with fearsomeness, borne by An and Urac."

"Enlil, [...] first-born child of holy An, whose divine powers are untouchable"

"Nudimmud, lord who determines the fates, who strengthens the Land."

"Enki, great bull of Eridug, [...] greatly exalted among the Anuna."

"May he bestow a long life with vigorous days on Icme-Dagan, the son of Enlil! May father Enki bestow a long life with vigorous days on Icme-Dagan, the son of Enlil!"

"What he orders is faithfully executed. [...] Endowed with beauty in the E-kur, [...] among the great gods, the great and august lord."

"Lord whose abode is the mountains, father Nanna, [...] fixes the months and the new moon according to a cord, establishes the year. [...] Who puts all the lands in order, [...] who makes the Tigris and the Euphrates bring flowing water."

"Life for the multitude."

"[O]n earth, on the day of the disappearance of the moon, as you have completed the month, you summon the people, lord; and then in the netherworld you decree great judgments, you decide sublime verdicts. Enki and Ninki, the great lords, the great princes, the lords who determine fates, await your utterances, father."

"Prince, you place justice in every mouth, and make propriety resplendent. Daily you make hearts content, daily you determine fates appropriately. [...] You brighten the night sky in the broad firmament, and illuminate the darkness. The Anuna gods stand by with prayers and supplications at your rising. The sweet sight of your resplendent crescent, full of loveliness, brings joy to the great lady of the Ki-ur, mother Ninli."

"Great hero, strongest in heaven and earth! Ninurta, who controls perfectly the fifty divine powers in the E-kur! Governor for his father, rising raging storm, who extends terror [...] towards the foreign countries. [...] Who casts fear upon the people, who has no rival! Ninurta, surpassing in vigour! [...] Great and majestic strength, [...] ornament of the august shrine!"

"Lord, the son of Enlil, who has come forth from the hills, and rides upon the numerous divine powers. [...] Great hero, surpassing dragon, perfect lord, [...] without rival! Great hero confident in his strength!"

"His words are precious, and what he says is true. Ninurta, lion raging against the disobedient! Authoritative one, who makes the foreign countries submit."

"If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year."

"If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out."

"Laws of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established."

"This (Code of Hammurabi) was a collection of laws and judicial decisions whose aim was to present Hammurabi as a role model of a just king, serve as a basis for a more uniform legal system across the Babylonian Empire, and teach future generations what justice is and how a just king acts."

"Hammurabi's Code cannot by any means be regarded as a faltering attempt to frame laws among a young and inexperienced people. Such a masterpiece of legislation could befit only a thriving and well-organized nation, given to agriculture and commerce, long since grown familiar with the security afforded by written deeds drawn up with all the niceties and solemnities which clever jurists could devise, and accustomed to transact no business otherwise. It is inspired throughout by an appreciation of the right and humane sentiments that make it surpass by far the stern old Roman law."

"Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land."