Code of Hammurabi
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The Code of Hammurabi is an ancient Babylonian set of laws and rules for conduct created by King Hammurabi around 1754 BCE. It matters because it is one of the oldest known written legal codes, providing important insight into how early civilizations organized society and justice.
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The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1753 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 600 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.