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The 'Code of Hammurabi' (also known as the 'Codex Hammurabi' and 'Hammurabi's Code') was created ca. 1760 BC (middle chronology) and is one of the earliest extant sets of laws and one of the best preserved examples of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia. It was created by Hammurabi. Still earlier collections of laws include the codex of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (ca. 2050 BC), the Codex of Eshnunna (ca. 1930 BC) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (ca. 1870 BC).
The Code contains an enumeration of crimes and their various punishments as well as settlements for common disputes and guidelines for citizens' conduct. The Code does not provide opportunity for explanation or excuses, though it does imply one's right to present evidence. For a comprehensive summary, see Babylonian law.
The Code was openly displayed for all to see; thus, no man could plead ignorance of the law as an excuse. Scholars, however, presume that few people could read in that era, as literacy was primarily the domain of scribes.

Contents

History

See also

References

External links

History

Hammurabi (ca. 1810 BC – 1750 BC) believed that he was chosen by the gods to deliver the law to his people. In the preface to the law code, he states, "Anu and Bel called by name me, 'Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the' rule of righteousness in the land."^[1] In the upper part of the stela, Hammurabi is shown in front of the throne of the sun god Shamash.
The laws numbered from 1 to 282 (numbers 13 and 66-99 are missing) and are inscribed in Old Babylonian on an eight-foot tall stela of black basalt^[2] It was discovered in December 1901 in Susa, Elam, which is now Khuzestan, Iran, where it had been taken as plunder by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte in the 12th century BC. It is currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The code is often pointed to as the first example of the legal concept that some laws are so basic as to be beyond the ability of even a king to change. Hammurabi had the laws inscribed in stone, so they were immutable.
The Code of Hammurabi was one of many sets of laws in the Ancient Near East. Most of these codes come from similar cultures and racial groups in a relatively small geographical area, and they have passages which resemble each other. The earlier code of Ur-Nammu, of the Ur-III dynasty (21st century BC), the Hittite code of laws (ca. 1300 BC), and Mosaic Law (traditionally ca. 1400 BC under Moses), all contain statutes that bear at least passing resemblance to those in the Code of Hammurabi and other codices from the same geographic area.

See also

★ Babylonian law

★ Cuneiform Law

★ Quid pro quo

★ Manu Smriti

★ Retributive justice

★ An eye for an eye

★ Mesopotamian Marriage Law

★ Cyrus cylinder

References

★ Falkenstein, A. (1956–57). ''Die neusumerischen Gerichtsurkunden I–III''. München.

★ Kohler, J. & Peiser, F.E. (1890). ''Aus dem Babylonischen Rechtsleben''. Leipzig.

★ Johns, C. H. W., M.A. (1903). ''The Oldest Code of Laws in the World: The Code of Laws Promulgated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon B.C. 2285-2242''. Edinburgh.

★ Elsen-Novák, G. / Novák, M.: ''Der 'König der Gerechtigkeit'. Zur Ikonologie und Teleologie des 'Codex' Hammurapi.'' In: Baghdader Mitteilungen 37 (2006), pp. 131-156.

★ Julius Oppert and Joachim Menant (1877). ''Documents juridiques de l'Assyrie et de la Chaldee''. París.

★ Thomas, D. Winton, ed. (1958). ''Documents from Old Testament Times''. London and New York.

External links

★ High resolution images and French description from the Louvre