Abstract
The lecture began with an overview of the kingdom Samsu-iluna inherited from his father. The text used as a guide is the prologue to the Code of Hammu-rabi, written at the end of his reign. In it, the ruler defines himself in relation to the main cities of his kingdom. Each time, the structure is the same : after a general epithet comes the definition of a particular link of the king to a given deity, as well as to the city and its temple. The section begins thus: " I am Hammu-rabi, the shepherd chosen by Enlil, he who provides abundance and profusion, he who makes all things perfect for the city of Nippur, link of heaven and earth, the pious provider of the Ekur. " In all, no fewer than 26 cities are mentioned in the prologue to the " Code of Hammurabi ". The order in which they are listed has given rise to much comment, as there is nothing obvious about it. The first group is religious in nature. It begins with Nippur, Eridu and Babylon, i.e. the cities of the major deities Enlil, Enki/Ea and Marduk. The eighteen other cities are grouped together geographically. A second group forms a kind of circle in central Babylonia : it starts in Isin, then goes north (Kiš and Kutha), heads west (Borsippa), then south (Dilbat) and returns to the Isin region (Keš). The third group lists towns on the " eastern periphery " : it starts at Lagaš-Girsu, passes through Zabalam, Karkar, Adab and Maškan-šapir, before ending at Malgium. The fourth group corresponds to Hammu-rabi's later conquests : to the west, Mari and Tuttul; to the east, Ešnunna and Agadé; and to the north, Aššur and Nineveh. The kingdoms neighboring Babylonia when Samsu-iluna ascended the throne were then presented, in particular those of Aleppo in the west and Apum (with its capital Šehna/Šubat-Enlil) in Upper Mesopotamia.
