Hammurabi and His Code of Laws

That the strong might not injure the weak
In order to protect the widows and orphans
I have in Babylon...
Set up these my precious words
Written upon my memorial stone...

Thus ends the famous Codex Hammurabi, written by a king 3700 years ago in the world's first great metropolis.

Most people have heard about the Code of Hammurabi. It contains such laws as: "An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth." But who was Hammurabi? What were his laws? Why did he write them? How did we get them? What language were they written in? Why should they matter today?

All of that - and more - is the subject of this story.

Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.