Justice : the andurârum, back to the original situation

One of the instruments of justice was the andurârum, which is to be understood as the " return to original status " : this royal measure cancelled debts, allowed sellers to recover their land, etc. The history of this measure will be studied over the long term, with its biblical extensions. These were not measures of " social progress " : nothing is more foreign to the Mesopotamian world than reform in the sense of modern reformists. The word can only be used in the same way as when referring to religious reforms : theandurârum bears witness to the desire to return to what was believed to be the perfection of the origins.