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The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon.
The oldest evidence of a code of law was found at Ebla, in modern Syria (c. 2400 BC). [1] The Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100 –2050 BC), then the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BC), are amongst the earliest originating in the Fertile Crescent. In the Roman empire, a number of codifications were developed, such as the Twelve Tables ...
The code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets. [27] Unlike earlier laws, it was written in Akkadian , the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city.
Fragment of the Code of Hammurabi.One of the most important institutions of Mesopotamia and the ancient world. It was a compilation of previous laws (Code of Ur-Namma, Code of Ešnunna) that were shaped and renewed in the time of Hammurabi and was made to be embodied in cuneiform script on sculptures and rocks in all public places throughout the ancient Babylonian state, heir to the Akkadian ...
Cuneiform law refers to any of the legal codes written in cuneiform script that were developed and used throughout the ancient Middle East among the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, Hurrians, Kassites, and Hittites. [1] The Code of Hammurabi is the best-known of the cuneiform laws, but there were a number of precursor laws. [1]
The code is written in cuneiform on a 2.25 meter (7 foot 4½ inch) diorite stele. At the top, it portrays the Babylonian king receiving his kingship from the sun god Shamash; on the bottom is the collection of written laws. The text itself explains how Hammurabi came to power and created a set of laws to ensure justice throughout his territory ...
The author who had the laws written onto cuneiform tablets is still somewhat under dispute. Some scholars have attributed it to Ur-Nammu's son Shulgi. [8] Although it is known that earlier law-codes existed, such as the Code of Urukagina, this represents the earliest extant legal text. It is three centuries older than the Code of Hammurabi.
In Exodus 21, as in the Code of Hammurabi, the concept of reciprocal justice seemingly applies to social equals; the statement of reciprocal justice "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" [29] is followed by an example of a different law: if a slave-owner ...