Hammurabi Promulgates His Law Code
The Code of Hammurabi is arguably the most famous legal document from the ancient world. The stele, nearly 2.25 meters tall, depicts Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shamash, the sun god and deity of justice, and is now in the Louvre. Hammurabi's reign (c. 1792-1750 BCE) saw the conquest of Ur, Larsa, Eshnunna, Mari, and Assur, unifying virtually all of Mesopotamia. The 282 laws cover an extraordinary range of situations: contracts and wages, medical malpractice, adoption and inheritance, divorce and adultery, false accusation, agricultural leases, and the responsibilities of soldiers. The famous lex talionis principle, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, appears here, though its application is explicitly class-dependent. Historiographically, scholars have debated whether the Code was a genuinely applied body of law or primarily a literary-political monument. What is beyond dispute is its immense influence: the code shaped legal thinking across the ancient Near East, and its principles echo in later Hittite, Assyrian, and Biblical law.
- Year: 1754 BCE
- Category: Political
