Tappiliitokset

Tappiliitokset, also known as the *Tablets of the Covenant*, are a collection of ancient cuneiform tablets discovered in the 19th century during archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia. These tablets date back to the Old Babylonian period, roughly between 1800 and 1600 BCE, and are among the earliest known legal codes in human history. They were found in the ruins of the city of Sippar, near modern-day Iraq, and are now housed in various museums, including the British Museum and the Louvre.

The tablets contain a series of laws that resemble the more famous Code of Hammurabi, though they are generally considered less comprehensive. The legal code covers a range of topics, including property rights, contracts, marriage, and criminal offenses. Unlike Hammurabi’s code, which is often presented as a single, structured text, the Tappiliitokset are fragmentary and appear to have been compiled from multiple sources. This suggests they may have been a local or regional legal tradition rather than a unified national code.

The tablets are written in Akkadian, the administrative language of Mesopotamia, and use cuneiform script. Their discovery has provided valuable insights into the legal and social structures of ancient Mesopotamian societies. While they do not match the fame of Hammurabi’s code, they contribute to our understanding of how legal systems evolved in the ancient Near East. Scholars continue to study them to reconstruct the full context of their origins and significance.