The Material and Ideological Base of the Old Babylonian State by Pecha Lukás;

Author:Pecha, Lukás;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic

Chapter 4

Structure of the Old Babylonian State

The role of the Old Babylonian king and his functions can be reconstructed mainly on the basis of the representative sources (royal inscriptions, year names, hymns, iconographic monuments) which generally reflect the contemporary royal ideology, as well as of the texts documenting daily activities of the state administration (letters, contracts, administrative records, etc.) which describe the deeds of a particular king on a more practical level.1

None of the preserved Old Babylonian sources reveals criteria according to which the ruler was chosen and how he was enthroned. We have no knowledge whatsoever about the rules of succession which applied during the period of the 1st dynasty of Babylon. On the basis of analogy with other phases of the Mesopotamian history, we can infer that the royal office went from the father to his oldest son as a rule, but this assumption cannot be supported by any Old Babylonian documents. We even lack information about whether and how much the designated successors were eventually involved in the state administration during the lifetime of their fathers. The Old Babylonian kings in their inscriptions as well as in other texts never speak about entrusting some of their tasks to the crown princes.

The enthronement of a new ruler was accompanied by some ceremonies which served to ensure him the favor of the gods and good fortune in his rule. However, information on such ceremonies are scarce. Mentions about a shave and a wash appear in the year name AS–1 in connection with the ascension to the throne.2 D. Charpin believes that this ritual symbolized the end of the mourning after the death of the previous ruler.3 As another possible evidence he quotes the letter AbB 12,172 (from the time of king Abī-ešuḫ) which, in connection with the issuing of a royal edict (mīšarum), speaks about the fact that the king “lifted a golden torch for the land” (di-pa-ar KÙ.GI a-na [m]a-tim iš-ši). According to his opinion, it meant the symbolic end of the mourning period following the death of king Samsu-iluna.4

All available sources indicate that the Old Babylonian state was an absolute monarchy. The ruler represented the supreme authority and, theoretically, all power was centralized in his hands. In performing his office, the ruler was not limited by any written set of regulations which would define his authority, and it is not documented that any other individual or collective authority would participate in ruling the state as an equal partner of the king.

However, this does not necessarily mean that the king ruled without any restrictions. Principally, the king had to follow unwritten rules which generally determined his behavior toward the gods and toward his subjects. This set of rules was the result of a long and complicated development dating back to the very beginnings of the Mesopotamian statehood. It was never written down, so we can perceive it only as an immanent concept which stands behind all attested representative texts and iconographic monuments.

None of the Old Babylonian texts concerning

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