First Sentence

"WHEN Anu, the majestic, King of the Anunnaki, and Bel, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who established the fate of the land, had given to Marduk, the ruling son of Ea, dominion over mankind, magnified him among the Igigi ; and called Babylon by his great name ; when they made it great upon the earth by founding therein an eternal kingdom, whose foundations are as firmly grounded as are those of heaven and earth,-it was then that Anu and Bel called me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, a God-fearing man, by name, to cause justice to be practiced in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil [alike], to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak, so that I might go forth like Shamash to rule over the Black-haired people, to give light to the land, and, like Anu and Bel, promote the welfare of mankind."