Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest known written legal codes in human history, inscribed on a 2.25-meter-tall stele of polished black diorite. It was created during the reign of Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, around 1754 BC. The stele contains 282 laws covering matters of commerce, property, family, labor, and criminal justice.

At the top of the stele, a relief carving depicts Hammurabi receiving the authority to rule and dispense justice from Shamash, the Mesopotamian sun god and god of justice. Below this scene, the laws are inscribed in cuneiform script in the Akkadian language, arranged in neat columns that wrap around the entire monument.

The stele was originally erected in Sippar, Mesopotamia, but was taken as a war trophy to Susa (in modern-day Iran) by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte around 1160 BC. It was discovered there during French archaeological excavations in 1901–1902 and transported to the Louvre, where it has been a cornerstone of the Near Eastern Antiquities collection ever since.