3
The Code of Hammurabi, created circa 1760 BC, is one of the earliest extant sets of lawsand one of the best preserved examples of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Code contains an enumeration of crimes and their various punishments as well as settlements for common disputes and guidelines for citizen'sconduct. The Code does not provide opportunity for explanation or excuses, though it does imply one's right to present evidence.
The laws, which numbered from 1 to 282 (numbers 13 and 66-99 are missing), areinscribed in Old Babylonian on an eight-foot tall stela of black basalt. The code is often pointed to as the first example of the legal concept that some laws are so basic as to bebeyond the ability of even a king to change. Because Hammurabi had the laws inscribed in stone, they were immutable.
This edition was translated by
Leonard William King
in 1910. Some portions of the text have been lost in the intervening centuries; these are designated with [...].
Leave a Comment