Hammurabi and Gilgamesh

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is portrayed as a king that does not treat his citizens well and acts unlike the shepherd of his people. He is described as not allowing the daughters or sons of his people from going back to their mothers and fathers and sleeps with the bride before the groom.
Hammurabi, on the other hand, was a great king from the beginning of his reign of Babylon in 1792 B.C. In King Hammurabi of Babylon, Marc Van De Mieroop writes that Hammurabi “started off his reign by ‘establishing justice in the land’“ (10). There was a large debt problem in Babylonian society and Hammurabi enacted debt cancellations at irregular intervals in order to relieve people from debt-servitude. Hammurabi helped people further economically through excavated irrigation canals to cultivate the fields in Lower Mesopotamia.
Unlike Gilgamesh, Hammurabi was known for taking care of the Gods. Hammurabi was known for building great temples to honor the deities in his cities and even the cities that he conquered such as the southern state of Larsa, where he built a temple for the goddess Inanna. Also, Hammurabi is often documented mentioning the gods and he sought the approval of the gods before declaring war on Elam and Larsa.
Finally, Hammurabi was a great king because he safeguarded his people. “He was like a good shepherd who took care of his flock” (Meiroop 13). He protected his people through his army, law codes, and reinforcements of his city walls. Just like Gilgamesh, Hammurabi glorified his walls, especially those of the northern city of Sippar.