Hammurabi
Ancient Mesopotamian legislator
Hammurabi was a Babylonian king of the 18th century BCE, best known for his law code—one of the earliest written legal systems.
The Code of Hammurabi established fixed punishments for crimes, famously including "an eye for an eye." His name appears in discussions of ancient law, justice, and the origins of legal systems: The principle dates back to Hammurabi.
Inscribed memorial pillar
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- edictsAuthoritative public commands
- inscriptionsWords carved into surfaces
- clay tabletsInscribed earthen slabs
legal code · prologue · epilogue · judgments · witnesses · contracts · property rights · debt
Ancient Mesopotamian capital
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- reignSovereign's time in power
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
unification · empire · authority · city-state · succession · royal · dominion · centralisation
Major Iraqi river
- TigrisWestern Asian river
- SumerAncient southern Mesopotamia
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
- IshtarBabylonian goddess of love
Marduk · Gilgamesh · irrigation · canals
Philosophy governing legal systems
- Mosaic lawHebrew scriptural commandments
- ancient lawLegal rule from antiquity
- legal historyRecord of past jurisprudence
- codificationOrganizing rules into system
precedent · influence · archaeology · decipherment · historical significance · lawgiver · legal reform · written record
Punishment for wrongdoing
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- restitutionRestoring what was lost
- penaltyPunishment for wrongdoing
- adjudicationFormal decision on disputes
verdict · remedy · accountability · social order · class distinction · proportionality · punishment · redress
stele
Inscribed memorial pillar
- cuneiformStylus-impressed ancient script
- edictsAuthoritative public commands
- inscriptionsWords carved into surfaces
clay tablets · legal code · prologue · epilogue · judgments · witnesses · contracts · property rights · debt · slavery
Babylon
Ancient Mesopotamian capital
conquest · unification · empire · authority · city-state · succession · royal · dominion · centralisation · administration
Euphrates
Major Iraqi river
Ishtar · Marduk · Gilgamesh · irrigation · canals
jurisprudence
Philosophy governing legal systems
- Mosaic lawHebrew scriptural commandments
- ancient lawLegal rule from antiquity
- legal historyRecord of past jurisprudence
codification · precedent · influence · archaeology · decipherment · historical significance · lawgiver · legal reform · written record
retribution
Punishment for wrongdoing
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- restitutionRestoring what was lost
- penaltyPunishment for wrongdoing
adjudication · verdict · remedy · accountability · social order · class distinction · proportionality · punishment · redress · compensation
- Mesopotamian FiguresGilgamesh, Nebuchadnezzar, Sargon, Marduk, Ishtar
- Mesopotamian KingsNebuchadnezzar, Sargon
- ancient worldancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, pyramids, pyramid
- historical figureshistorical figures, leaders, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc
- historical rulersJulius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great
- Ancient MesopotamiaBabylon, Assyria, cuneiform, Nineveh, Sumer
Hammurabityrant
Cruel, absolute ruler
despot · Caligula · despotism · tyranny · lawlessness
- Code of HammurabiAncient Babylonian legal collection
- Hammurabi's codeAncient Babylonian legal text