Di fronte alla mia statua, 'Re di Giustizia'. La stele di Hammurabi come luogo di ascolto e di preghiera

Among the many aspects already widely analysed in relation to the “Code” of Hammurabi, this article focuses on the narûm of the Old-Babylonian ruler as a physical object, as an iconographic and textual support, and above all, as a place where the “wronged man” is invited to seek a solution to his case, peace for his troubled heart, and to pray for his king. The article analyses the relationship between the stele of Hammurabi, his statue (“King of Justice”) and the “living” recipient from the point of view of the physical space, the way of approaching the engraved text, and the practical and ideological consequences that arise from it. The comparison with the Šar tamḫari and The Poor Man of Nippur supports the analysis of some interpretive problems and the reading of some aspects of the royal propaganda that underlies the whole “Code” and is expressed in the prayer for the king, which in its structure, in the aspects mentioned and in those absent is a reflection of the ideological message of the sovereign.