Notes

For a time after the fall of the Akkadians, Sumer was once again a group of city-states. The next ruler to unite all of Mesopotamia was a king named Hammurabi (hah-muh-RAH-bee).
Hammurabi was the king of Babylon (BAH-buh-luhn), a small city-state in central Mesopotamia. After conquering the rest of Mesopotamia, Hammurabi made Babylon the capital of his empire. The region under his rule became known as the Babylonian Empire, or Babylonia.
Hammurabi is best known for his code of laws, which he wrote from 1792 to 1750 B.C.E. Hammurabi used the code of laws to unify his empire and to preserve order. He based the laws not merely on his own authority, but on the word of the gods. Hammurabi claimed that the gods had told him to create laws that applied to everyone in the empire. Laws that were based on the gods’ will could never be changed. The code of laws was written on a stele and placed in a temple for everyone to see.
King Hammurabi united
Mesopotamia and made the
city-state of Babylon the capital
of the Babylonian Empire.
Click to read caption
Hammurabi’s code was detailed. It covered many situations, such as trade, payment for work, marriage, and divorce. The code spelled out punishments for crimes, such as stealing or causing injury. For example, if a poorly built house were to collapse and kill its owner, then the builder could be put to death. If the owner’s son rather than the owner were killed in the collapse, the builder’s son could be put to death.
Laws like this one seem harsh to us now. Yet Hammurabi’s code was an important achievement. Although the laws and punishments did not treat all people equally, the code was the first set of laws to apply to everyone.