EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES. 59 



B.C. 2200. On the upper portion of the stele is 

 a relief in which the king is represented standing 

 before the Sun-god Shamash, and receiving the 

 laws from him. The god is seated on a mystic 

 throne, and his feet are upon the mountains ; 

 from his shoulders rise flames of fire. 



On the lower part of the stele are 28 columns 

 of text containing : — 



1. An introduction in which Khammurabi 



enumerates the benefits which he has 

 conferred upon the shrines and great 

 cities of Babylonia and Assyria. 



2. The text of 282 laws by which the Baby- 



lonians were ordered to regulate their 

 afi'airs, both private and public, and their 

 social relationships. 



3. A blessing on the man who kept these 



laws, and a series of curses upon any 

 king or governor who broke, modified, 

 or abrogated any of them. 



The original stele was set up by Khammurabi 

 in the temple of E-Sagil in Babylon, in order 

 that it might be consulted by any man who 

 considered himself wronged or oppressed. It was 

 afterwards carried away by an Elamite king of 

 Sasa (mentioned in Nehemiah i. 1, under the 

 name of " Shushan the Palace") where four or 

 five columns of the lower part of the text were 

 erased, probably to make room for an inscription 

 of the king who removed it. 



ITI. — Presents. 



J. A valuable collection of miscellaneous antiquities from 

 Der al-Bahari, among which may be mentioned: — 



1. Hand of a sandstone statue of King Menthu- 



hetep. Xllth dynasty. 



2, Model of a granary. Xlth dynasty. 

 8. Model of a bakery. Xlth dynasty. 



4. Wooden figure of a man squatting. Xlth 



dynasty. 

 7-10. Skull and mummied arm and feet. Xlth 



dynasty. 

 11, 12. White limestone and wood coffin supports. 



Xlth dynasty. 

 13. A group of miscellaneous wooden objects. 



Xlth djmasty. 

 14, 15. Two vases. Xlth dynasty. 



