The Perfect Leader

As Van De Mieroop describes Hammurabi’s character, it is apparent that he thinks he was a powerful leader, he was head of a rather large family and exceeded expectations. Not only is he portrayed to be a good leader, but he is also seen by Van De Mieroop to be an educated man, with many wives. Even Zimri-Lim depicts Hammurabi to be a diplomatic leader, someone who thought strategically about the tast at hand. Van De Mieroop never speaks negatively about Hammurabi and his legacy.

Chapters nine and ten seem to be written to only praise Hammurabi and the tactics he uses to conquer all of his conquests. Van de Mieroop writes that Hammurabi was “able to bring justice to the entire world surrounding him” (125). His tone is a happy one, and keeps the reader in tune and focused on the content. There is no doubt that Hammurabi was an outstanding, extraordinary leader, but there is no reason to just praise him throughout the whole book, because everyone makes mistakes.