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# Code of Hammurabi

## Overview
The Code of Hammurabi (~1754 BCE) is one of the most complete and well-known ancient legal codes, inscribed on a basalt stele and containing 282 laws governing Babylonian society. @t[~1754 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Date: ~1754 BCE (Wikipedia/Roth give range 1755–1751 BCE) @t[~1754 BCE]
- Issuer: Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty
- Language: Akkadian (Old Babylonian dialect), written in cuneiform script
- Medium: Black basalt stele, 2.25 m tall (some older sources describe the material as diorite) [^3]
- Current location: Louvre Museum, Paris (discovered at Susa, Iran, 1901–1902) [^3]
- Weight: approximately 4 tons

## Structure
- Prologue: Hammurabi as divinely appointed shepherd of his people; relief at top depicts Hammurabi receiving authority from Shamash, the sun god [^1]
- 282 laws organized by topic, written vertically in cuneiform
- Epilogue: Blessings for those who uphold the laws, curses for those who deface the stele [^1]

## Legal Principles
- *Lex talionis*: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (with class-based modifications) [^2]
- Three social classes: *awilum* (free), *mushkenum* (dependent), *wardum* (slave)
- Covers: Property, trade, family law, labor, personal injury, agriculture
- Presumption of innocence in some cases; trial by ordeal in others [^2]
- Prescribed specific penalties for each crime; limited retribution to proportional response

## Discovery and Transmission
- The stele was taken as plunder to Susa by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte around 1158 BCE, approximately 600 years after its creation
- Rediscovered by French archaeologists at Susa in 1901–1902
- The text was copied and studied by Mesopotamian scribes for over a millennium after its creation, attesting to its lasting authority [^4]

## Significance
- Not the earliest code (preceded by Code of Ur-Nammu, ~2100–2050 BCE) but the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East [^4]
- Provides detailed picture of Old Babylonian society
- Influenced later Near Eastern legal traditions; parallels noted with the Law of Moses in the Torah [^4]
- Continues to be studied for its influence on modern legal jurisprudence

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[^1]: Roth, M.T. *Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor* (1997)
[^2]: Driver, G.R. & Miles, J.C. *The Babylonian Laws* (Oxford, 1952–1955)
[^3]: Louvre Museum. "The Code of Hammurabi." louvre.fr (accessed 2026)
[^4]: Wikipedia contributors. "Code of Hammurabi." *Wikipedia* (accessed 2026-02-23)