The Code Of Hammurabi : The King Of The Babylonian Empire

1167 Words5 Pages
Hammurabi was the first king of the Babylonian Empire and ruled over Babylon for 42 years. As military leader, he conquered many smaller city-states to create his Empire. He referred to himself as “the efficient king” and the “perfect king”. He is best known for his set of laws called The Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws and is dated back to about 1754 BC, before biblical laws. It was one of the first written laws in the world and the longest surviving text from the Old Babylonian period. The laws were written on clay tablets and later copied onto an eight-foot black basalt stele that was placed in Babylon in the temple of Marduk . These laws were discovered in 1901 by modern archaeologists. The first two parts of the Code of Hammurabi begins with the exultation of Hammurabi, the prince that was called into position by Marduk himself. He speaks of his close ties to the gods and boastfully recites all of the wonderful acts that he has done, and will do on behalf of the people (that he will now rule over) and the gods. He describes himself as a God-fearing, exalted prince that has arrived as a “protector of the weak and oppressed." The third part of the “code” is a simplified description of the 282 laws and legal decisions pertaining to the daily life in the Kingdom of Babylon. The laws are set up as conditional statements followed by a future tense response and covered many subjects such as slavery, trade, theft, slander, food, etc. The laws

More about The Code Of Hammurabi : The King Of The Babylonian Empire

Get Access