description Hammurabi Overview
Hammurabi's Code represents one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes. It established foundational principles of law, including concepts of due process, compensation, and social stratification. This code provided a stable, written framework for justice that influenced legal thought for millennia across the Near East.
help Hammurabi FAQ
How many laws are in Hammurabi's Code?
The code contains 282 laws, issued under Hammurabi, who ruled Babylon from about 1792 to 1750 BC. It's one of the longest and best-preserved legal texts from the ancient world.
Where is the Hammurabi Code stele displayed today?
The famous black diorite stele is in the Louvre in Paris. It was discovered at Susa in modern-day Iran in 1901–1902 by a French archaeological excavation, having been carried off as plunder from Babylon over three millennia earlier.
Does Hammurabi's Code really say 'an eye for an eye'?
Yes—law 196 famously states that if a man destroys the eye of another, his own eye shall be destroyed. However, this lex talionis was applied unevenly across social classes, with different penalties depending on whether the victim was a free person, commoner, or slave.
Was Hammurabi's Code the first written law code?
No, earlier codes existed, such as the Code of Ur-Nammu from around 2100 BC in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi's is the most complete early code to survive and became the most influential template for written justice in the ancient Near East.
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