The Louvre, Paris, France (originally Sippar, Mesopotamia
(modern-day Iraq), found at Susa, Iran)
Replicas: various
Author(s)
King Hammurabi of Babylon
Media type
Basalt stele[1][2]
Subject
Law, justice
Purpose
Debated: legislation, law report, or jurisprudence
Full text
Code of Hammurabi at Wikisource
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 primary copy of the text is inscribed on a basalt stele 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) tall.
The stele was rediscovered in 1901 at the site of Susa in present-day Iran, where it had been taken as plunder six hundred years after its creation. The text itself was copied and studied by Mesopotamian scribes for over a millennium. The stele now resides in the Louvre Museum.
The top of the stele features an image in relief of Hammurabi with Shamash, the Babylonian sun god and god of justice. Below the relief are about 4,130 lines of cuneiform text: one fifth contains a prologue and epilogue in poetic style, while the remaining four fifths contain what are generally called the laws. In the prologue, Hammurabi claims to have been granted his rule by the gods "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak". The laws are casuistic, expressed as "if... then" conditional sentences. Their scope is broad, including, for example, criminal law, family law, property law, and commercial law.
Modern scholars responded to the Code with admiration at its perceived fairness and respect for the rule of law, and at the complexity of Old Babylonian society. There was also much discussion of its influence on the Mosaic Law. Scholars quickly identified lex talionis—the "eye for an eye" principle—underlying the two collections. Debate among Assyriologists has since centred around several aspects of the Code: its purpose, its underlying principles, its language, and its relation to earlier and later law collections.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding these issues, Hammurabi is regarded outside Assyriology as an important figure in the history of law and the document as a true legal code. The U.S. Capitol has a relief portrait of Hammurabi alongside those of other historic lawgivers. There are replicas of the stele in numerous institutions, including the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
^Sasson, Jack. Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Hendrickson. pp. 901, 908. ISBN 0684192799.
^Ross, Leslie. Art and Architecture of the World's Religions. Greenwood Press. p. 35.
The CodeofHammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the...
codes, such as the Codeof Ur-Nammu, which had focused on compensating the victim of the crime, the Law ofHammurabi was one of the first law codes to...
Court of the United States CodeofHammurabiCodeof the United States Fighting Force Codeof Service Discipline Declaration of Geneva Declaration of Helsinki...
2021. Hammurabi (1903). "CodeofHammurabi, King of Babylon". Records of the Past. 2 (3). Translated by Sommer, Otto. Washington, DC: Records of the Past...
2021. Hammurabi (1903). "CodeofHammurabi, King of Babylon". Records of the Past. 2 (3). Translated by Sommer, Otto. Washington, DC: Records of the Past...
code of law was found at Ebla, in modern Syria (c. 2400 BC). The Sumerian Codeof Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BC), then the Babylonian CodeofHammurabi (c....
130 lines of cuneiform law dictated by Hammurabi (c. 1792–1750 BC) of the First Babylonian Empire in the city of Shush, Iran. CodeofHammurabi Law 100...
Amorite of the era, "Dipilirabi", is also known as "Dipilirapi".). The CodeofHammurabi — one of the oldest written laws in history, and one of the most...
130 lines of cuneiform law dictated by Hammurabi (c. 1792–1750 BC) of the First Babylonian Empire in the city of Shush, Iran. CodeofHammurabi Law 100...
while banknotes are used for higher values. CodeofHammurabi Law 100 (c. 1755–1750 BC) stipulated repayment of a loan by a debtor to a creditor on a schedule...
powers of attorney are very common documents needing notarization. CodeofHammurabi Law 122 (c. 1755–1750 BCE) stipulated that a depositor of gold, silver...
known use of the principle appears in the Code of Hammurabi, which predates the Hebrew Bible. The law of exact retaliation (Latin: lex talionis), or reciprocal...
This contrasts with the Sumerian Codeof Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BCE), and the Babylonian CodeofHammurabi (c. 1760 BCE, of which almost half concerns contract...
the Code of Eshnunna (approximately 100 years before Lipit-Ishtar), the Codeof Lipit-Ishtar (1934–1924 BC), and the Babylonian CodeofHammurabi (c. 1760...
practice has much earlier roots, attested to as far back as the CodeofHammurabi and the Codeof Ur-Nammu. In pre-industrial society, the ordeal typically...
2021. Hammurabi (1903). "CodeofHammurabi, King of Babylon". Records of the Past. 2 (3). Translated by Sommer, Otto. Washington, DC: Records of the Past...
2021. Hammurabi (1903). "CodeofHammurabi, King of Babylon". Records of the Past. 2 (3). Translated by Sommer, Otto. Washington, DC: Records of the Past...
record stocks of produce. Types of records accounting for trade exchanges of payments were first being made about 3200 BCE. The CodeofHammurabi, written...
as the CodeofHammurabi in ancient Babylon, the dowry is described as an already-existing custom. Daughters did not normally inherit any of her father's...
with The Code of Assura or the CodeofHammurabi, the Codeof Nesilim also provided less-severe punishments for the code's violations. §189 If a man has...
October 2016. Byzantine law Roman law CodeofHammurabi Corpus Juris Canonici International Roman Law Moot Court List of Roman laws Twelve Tables "Codex Justiniani...
difference between the Covenant Code and the non-biblical codes like the CodeofHammurabi. The Covenant Code, like other biblical codes, differs from these by...
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 10: [1] [2] [3]. Edwards, The HammurabiCode, 1921, p 33. Hennen, A Digest of the Reported...
known written building code is included in the CodeofHammurabi, which dates from circa 1772 BC. The book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible stipulated that...
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Code of Hammurabi at Wikisource