Unfinished Business

The Relief on the Hammurabi Louvre Stele Revisited

Bibliographic Data

ID6078066
AuthorsTallay Ornan (0000-0003-3711-3140, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume71
Pages85-109
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cuneiform Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0256 • E-ISSN: 2325-6737
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/703854
OpenAlexW2955946538
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited11

A reexamination of the relief on the Hammurabi’s “Law Code” stele reveals that the type of beard worn by Hammurabi and Šamaš does not conform to the Old Babylonian beard type. Moreover, the linear workmanship of the lower part of the king’s beard suggests that the relief was never finished. Considering the troubled history of the stele—made and erected in Babylonia in the late fifties of the eighteenth century BCE and carried away to Susa in the mid twelfth century—it is proposed that the resculpting of the Stele was undertaken by Šutruk-Naḫḫunte or his son Kutir-Naḫḫunte upon the Elamite capture of the monument with the goal of making it their own. An attempt to clarify the circumstances and motivation of this reworking is offered in the article

Ancient history · Art · Stele · Visual arts · Workmanship · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History

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