Middle Assyrian Laws

Audience

As with many ancient Near Eastern texts, it is exceedingly difficult to discern the intended audience of the laws. As noted earlier, unlike some of the other ancient Near Eastern legal codes, the Middle Assyrian Laws were found on various tablets from Assur, most of which date to the reign of Tiglath-pileser I, presumably either for his royal library or perhaps for later scribes and their personal libraries. In their present state, the laws were most certainly not for public view or use.

One can speculate that, analogously to the other codes, the Middle Assyrian Laws may have been composed in other forms. For example, the most complete edition of the Code of Hammurabi was written on a nearly eight-foot-high black stone stela with an imposing iconographic depiction of Shamash, the god of justice, receiving the set of laws from the Babylonian king. Moreover, the laws are constructed with a lengthy prologue that stresses the god's appointment of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) as king and a description of Hammurabi's various duties. Following the body of laws (nearly three hundred in total) is a long epilogue, emphasizing the military nature of the monarch and mentioning blessings for Hammurabi and his successors as well as curses for those who transgress the laws or deface the monument itself. The Code of Hammurabi was publicly displayed to show the righteous rule of the king and to serve as an exemplar for future rulers. How this applies to the Middle Assyrian Laws is, of course, not certain. There are thousands of legal, administrative, and juridical texts from Assyria, none of which describes any public legal promulgation of laws. The question as to the audience for the Middle Assyrian Laws is left unresolved.