Editing Hammurabi (section)

===Reign and conquests===

{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Hammurabi's conquests
| date              = {{circa}} 1770 BC – {{circa}} 1760 BC
| place             = modern-day [[Iraq]] & modern-day [[Syria]]
| result            = Babylonian victory
| combatant1        = [[Babylonia]]<br/>[[Yamhad]]<br/>[[Larsa]]<br/>[[Mari, Syria|Mari]] (until {{circa}} 1760 BC)
| combatant2        = [[Elam]]
----
[[Larsa]]
----
[[Mari, Syria|Mari]] (from {{circa}} 1760 BC)<br/>Minor city-states
| commander1        = Hammurabi<br/>[[Yarim-Lim I]]
| commander2        = unknown
| casualties1       = unknown
| casualties2       = unknown
}}

[[File:Votive monument to Hammurabi BM 22454 n01.jpg|thumb|A [[limestone]] votive monument from Sippar, Iraq, dating to {{circa|1792|1750 BC}} showing King Hammurabi raising his right arm in worship, now held in the [[British Museum]]]]The first few years of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adolf |first1=Antony |title=Peace: A World History |date=8 May 2013 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-7456-5459-1 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1kh_7BmkoMC&dq=hammurabi+peaceful+reign&pg=PT34 |quote=An early study claims that 'peace and prosperity prevailed during his reign', though more recent research confines this preponderantly peaceful period to the first two decades Hammurabi ruled.}}</ref> Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=43}} The powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across the [[Zagros Mountains]], invaded the Mesopotamian plain.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=15–16}} With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=17}}

In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=18}} Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=18}} Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by {{circa|1763 BC}}.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=31}}

As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as [[Yamhad]] and [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=31}} Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest. Soon after, he destroyed Eshnunna.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=40–41}} Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the conquest of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=54–55, 64–65}}{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=45}}

Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with [[Ishme-Dagan I]] of Assyria for control of Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain the upper hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. [[Mut-Ashkur]], the new king of Assyria, was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Roger B. |last1=Beck |first2=Linda |last2=Black |first3=Larry S. |last3=Krieger |first4=Phillip C. |last4=Naylor |first5=Dahia Ibo |last5=Shabaka |title=World History: Patterns of Interaction |url=https://archive.org/details/mcdougallittellw00beck |url-access=registration |publisher=[[McDougal Littell]] |year=1999 |location=Evanston, IL |isbn=978-0-395-87274-1 |oclc=39762695}}</ref>

In just a few years, Hammurabi succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=45}} The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major city-states in the region, only [[Yamhad|Aleppo]] and [[Qatna]] to the west in the [[Levant]] maintained their independence.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=45}} However, one [[stele]] (stone monument) of Hammurabi has been found as far north as [[Diyarbekir]], where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Empire of the Amorites |last=Clay |first=Albert Tobias |author-link=Albert Tobias Clay |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1919 |page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofamorites00clayuoft/page/97 97] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofamorites00clayuoft}}</ref>

Vast numbers of contract [[Clay tablet|tablets]], dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters.{{sfn|Breasted|2003|p=129}} These letters give a glimpse into the daily trials of ruling an empire, from dealing with floods and mandating changes to a flawed [[calendar]], to taking care of Babylon's massive herds of livestock.{{sfn|Breasted|2003|pp=129–130}} Hammurabi died and passed the reins of the empire on to his son [[Samsu-iluna]] in {{circa|1750 BC}}, under whose rule the Babylonian empire quickly began to unravel.{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=42}}