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At the end of the IIId century BC the Sumerians completely disappeared
from the Mesopotamian history, having produced the world's first law code of king
Ur-Nammu. The city of Babylon reached its peak under the reign of King
Hammurabi (1792-1750), who made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi

became famous as the author of the second code of laws. The code was based on
the principle of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ illustrating an idea of the
legal equality of all members of a society and stating the need for taking care of

widows and orphans.
The political system of Babylon, as the whole culture of the Mesopotamia
was different from the Egyptian one. It had a more secular character with a smaller

roleof the priesthood as a state element controlling the irrigation systems (the
bedrock of life on the land of Mesopotamia and agriculture in general). On the
contrary, the military and royal officials had greater influence.

This experience of the Oriental despotic state was summarized in
Hammurabi’s laws. In Mesopotamia a state was a model of theocracy, but not gods
but their deouties were the rulers (Hammurabi was given the table of laws from the
sun god Shamash). The hierarchical structure of a society is reflected in Babylon’s

works of art: temples, pyramids, ziggurats (buildings designed for religious
purposes and serving as ancient observatories of priests, astrologers), reliefs and

inscriptions.
The focus on earthly values (not only positive) was noticeable in the culture
of Assyria that was characterized by a highly militarized nature, striking brutality
and cruelty. Even the king was not as much a religious figure as a commander who

saw no difference between the notions ‘war’ and ‘politics’. The main topic of the
Assyrian art was hunting, battles, massacre of prisoners and conquerred enemies.
All these scenes were depicted with a repulsive naturalism, impressive accuracy

and expressiveness. The image of a shedu – a winged bull with a human faces,
standing at the bottom of the stairs of the royal palace – gained the world’s
popularity. Ancient sculptors brilliantly illustrated the reality: the bulls had five

feet and from any angle they were seen as terrible four-legged guards. The problem
of correlation between the reality and conditionality was fully recognized in the art
of ancient Assyria.

One cannot overlook the famous library of King Ashurbanipal (VII century
BC). In his palace in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian kingdom, Ashurbanipal
collected a vast number of manuscripts. Among these texts one can find poem
‘Enuma Elish’ (‘When up above’), which retells another version of the Great Flood

caused by the anger of the gods. There was also found a directory listing the names
of the texts and information about their custody.

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