Code of Hammurabi

A well-preserved code of laws written in cuneiform in Mesopotamia around 1770 B.C.E. and discovered in 1901 by Gustav Jéquier in present day Iran (Cook, 2008), this is the first document where there is mention of a differentiation between illnesses of a physical nature and those of the mind, with the latter being treated by specialist priest-physicians or asu (Darton, 1999). Hammurabi was a king of Babylonia, sixth ruler of the Amorite dynasty, who reigned 1792-1750 B.C.E. (Byers, 1998; Kelly, 2009; Leick, 2002; Leick, 2003; Van de Mieroop, 2005). The Code of laws that he ordered to be distributed throughout his realm is known from several copies, the best known of which is that discovered by Jéquier. Mesopotamian culture attributed mental illnesses to demonic possession (Geller, 1997), with every specific disease state being attributed to its own demon, with over six thousand different demons being identified (Jayne, 1962; Nardo, 2007). For example, insanity was said to be caused by the demon Idta (Kent, 2003; Millon, 2004). Treatment was largely by psychotherapeutic methods or “talking therapies”, and the interpretation of dreams (Darton, 1999), preceding Freud’s ideas by nearly four millennia. The asu also used a variety of medications as treatment, most of them derived from plants or minerals (Nardo, 2007). A Babylonian tablet gives a prescription for the cure of madness: “Take a bucket, fill it with water from the mouth of the river. Impart to this the exalted magic power. Sprinkle the man with it. May insanity be dispelled!” (Kent, 2003). The royal family of Elam appear to have suffered from some form of mental illness (Nemet-Nejat,1998). Scurlock & Andersen (2005) devote a complete chapter of their book to mental health diagnoses from this period. Kaplan (2008) states that there are credible descriptions of schizophrenia in the Assyrian Codex.

Part of the Code of Hammurabi

References:

Byers, P.K. (Ed.) (1998). Encyclopedia of world biography. (2nd edition). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.'

Cook, J.W. (2008). Encyclopedia of ancient literature. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Darton, K. (1999). Notes on the history of mental health care. Mind: London. Retrieved from  http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/History+of+mental+health/Notes+on+the+History+of+Mental+Health+Care.htm

Geller, M.J. (1997). Freud, magic and Mesopotamia: how the magic works. Folklore 108, 1, 1-7.

Jayne, W.A. (1962). The healing gods of ancient civilizations. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books Inc.

Kaplan, R.M. (2008). Being Bleuler: the second century of schizophrenia. Australasian Psychiatry 16, 5, 305-311.

Kelly, K. (2009). The history of medicine: early civilizations prehistoric times to 500 C.E. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Kent, D. (2003). Snake pits, talking cures and magic bullets – a history of mental illness. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books.

Leick, G. (2002). Who’s who in the ancient Near East. London, England: Routledge.

Leick, G. (2003). Historical dictionary of Mesopotamia. Lanham, MA: The Scarecrow Press Inc.

Millon, T. (2004). Masters of the mind: exploring the story of mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Nardo, D. (2007). The Greenhaven encyclopedia of ancient Mesopotamia. Farmington Mills, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning.

Nemet-Nejat, K.R. (1998). Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Scurlock, J., & Andersen, B.R. (2005). Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian medicine: ancient sources, translations, and modern medical analyses. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Van de Mieroop, M. (2005). King Hammurabi of Babylon – a biography. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.