Comparing Texts

In chapters 3-5 of the book King Hammurabi of Babylon, Marc Van De Mieroop describes Hammurabi’s first years as a king and his early military campaigns that extended his kingdom. Chapter one focuses on his relations with other powerful kingdoms that controlled the area. On chapter two Mieroop tells us about Elam; a kingdom far east that sought to expand its controlled areas but failed to do so due to Hammurabi’s response and alliance with other territories. On chapter three, Mieroop inform us about Hammurabi’s first military expedition that enabled him to defeat and control the kingdom of Larsa that was located on the south. When reading King Hammurabi of Babylon, one can draw observations that were pointed out in the past texts that we have read in the class.

One observation that is relevant to Liverani’s composition is the importance of trade. On page five of the book, Marc Mieroop asserts that kings such as Shamshi-Adad tried to conquer cities that had central roles on international trade (5). On the same page, he mentions that expansions that took place to the west of the river Tigris as well the controlled routes to the Mediterranean yielded great economic benefits (5). On the second chapter, Marc Mieroop makes another argument that can be linked to both The Epic of Gilgamesh and Uruk: The First City. He mentions that Elam (a powerful kingdom that was located on east of Babylonia) “controlled one of the few trades routes used to import tin…and lapis lazuli, a dark-blue stone that was highly prized for the production of jewelry” (15-16). In these early chapters, Marc Mieroop highlights the importance of trading. This argument links to earlier texts that we have approached. This tells us that trade became an important tool that it enabled the kings to expand their kingdoms.

The importance of trade is mentioned in King Hammurabi of Babylon, Epic of Gilgamesh and Uruk: the First City. On the other hand, there is a difference in the argument about the political structure of Mesopotamia. In other words, Marc Mieroop argues that the city-states that prevailed before Hammurabi’s reign began to dissolve (Mieroop 2). This tells us that Mesopotamia experienced a new age when referring to its political structure. Taking into account Marc Mieroop book, one can see military expansions that took place during Hammurabi’s time.