Hammurabi's laws
282 laws carved on a stone pillar, publicly displayed so nobody can plead ignorance.
- When
- Known to
- ± 20 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
Hammurabi of Babylon promulgates his code around 1754 BCE on a two-metre diorite stele topped by a relief of the king receiving authority from the sun god. The laws are casuistic — if this, then that — and graded explicitly by class: the penalty for injuring a noble differs from that for injuring a commoner or a slave. It includes the eye for an eye principle, presumption of innocence, and the right of both parties to present evidence. It was displayed in public, which is the point.