Code of Hammurabi
One of the earliest known written legal codes — 282 laws governing Babylonian society, from wages to murder.
Explore this event on the interactive timeline →Hammurabi, king of Babylon, inscribed his legal code on a stele for public display. While not the first laws ever written, this collection is the most complete surviving code from the ancient world.
Perspective
The laws themselves are revealing — different punishments for harming people of different social classes. The idea that "justice" has always been unequal isn't modern cynicism; it's literally written in the oldest laws we have.