|
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest preserved forms of human law and one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. the code is inscribed in Akkadian language, using cuneiform script carved into a diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger, standing 7.4 feet (2.25m) tall.
The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.
Is has been estimated that the stele was erected in 1772 BC in the Babylonian town of Sippar. Patron God of Sippar was Shamash, the god of justice. The god is shown at the top of the stele, handing the code of law to the king.
In the 12th century BC, the stele was taken as plunder by the Elamites. It was excavated in 1901 in Iran at the site of the ancient town of Susa. The orginal is on display at the Louvre in Paris, France. Exact replicas exist at the University of Chicago, the library of the Theological University of the Reformed Churches in Kerken, Netherlands, at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran and at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. |
|