Hammurabi’s Code was created around 1790 BC in ancient Mesopotamia. Hammurabi, the Babylonian king, had 282 laws with punishments etched into large stone and clay tablets. Here is a picture of the most complete example that is shaped like a large index finger, in which the laws are inscribed with cuneiform.

A photograph of the actual “Code of Hammurabi” inscribed on a large, standing slab of stone

Source: Code of Hammurabi IMG 1932, Deror avi/Paris, Wikimedia

Now you are going to look at three of the laws written in Hammurabi’s Code. Once you have read the laws, complete Activity One.

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Click on the image below to read excerpts of Hammurabi's Code.

Activity One

Read each of the three excerpts from Hammurabi’s Code. In your notes, summarize in your own words what each excerpt means. After you have finished summarizing, think about how rule of law can be interpreted in Hammurabi’s Code, return to your Notes and, write a response on how rule of law is expressed in this ancient document.