Hammurabi was a young man when he succeeded his father, Sinmuballit, as king of Babylon. When Hammurabi became king, Babylon was already a strong kingdom in Mesopotamia. During his reign, however, Hammurabi transformed Babylon from a small city-state into a large, powerful state. He also united the other city-states of Mesopotamia under one rule. Hammurabi was directly involved in the ruling of his kingdom. He personally directed projects, such as building city walls, restoring temples, and digging and cleaning irrigation canals. A great deal of planning went into his projects. City streets, for example, were arranged in straight lines and intersected at right angles, much like the way our cities are planned today. One of Hammurabi’s goals was to control the Euphrates River because it provided water for Babylon’s farms and trade routes for cargo ships. He also needed to control the river’s annual flooding so that villages and crops would not be washed away. Hammurabi did this by issuing laws controlling the use of irrigation ditches. His laws protected the area and helped bring water to the fields. That was one reason he developed a strict law code, or collection of laws: damaged irrigation channels could cause many people to be injured or even killed. Hammurabi fought for many years against his enemies to control the river. He even used water to defeat them. Sometimes he would dam the river to withhold water needed for drinking and for crops, and then release a sudden damaging flood. Because of Hammurabi’s efforts, the center of power in Mesopotamia shifted from the south to Babylon in the north where it remained for the next 1,000 years.
Hammurabi is best known for his law code, or collection of laws. Around 1750 B.C., King Hammurabi wrote 282 laws to govern the people of Babylon. Historians and scholars agree that these ancient laws were the first to cover almost all aspects of society. However, historians and scholars do not agree whether Hammurabi’s laws were fair or cruel. Before the law code, rulers could treat others nearly any way they wanted. The code forced all people to follow the law in how they treated others. Hammurabi’s code influenced later law codes, including those of Greece and Rome.