Editing Code of Hammurabi (section)

===Earlier law collections===
{{Main|Cuneiform law}}
Although Hammurabi's Code was the first Mesopotamian law collection to be discovered, it was not the first written; several earlier collections survive. These collections were written in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. They also purport to have been written by rulers. There were almost certainly more such collections, as statements of other rulers suggest the custom was widespread.{{sfnp|Driver|Miles|1952|p=9}} The similarities between these law collections make it tempting to assume a consistent underlying legal system.{{sfnp|Driver|Miles|1952|p=9}} As with the Code of Hammurabi, however, it is difficult to interpret the purpose and underlying legal systems of these earlier collections, prompting numerous scholars to question whether this should be attempted.{{sfnmp|1a1=Kraus|1y=1960|1pp=295–296|2a1=Bottéro|2y=1992|2p=181|3a1=Roth|3y=1995b|3p=13}} Extant collections include:

* The [[Code of Ur-Nammu]] of [[Ur]].
* The [[Code of Lipit-Ishtar]] of [[Isin]].
* The [[Laws of Eshnunna]] (written by [[Bilalama]] or by [[Dadusha]]).
* The "Laws of X," which, rather than a distinct collection, may be the end of the Code of Ur-Nammu.{{Sfnp|Roth|1995a|p=36}}

There are additionally thousands of documents from the practice of law, from before and during the Old Babylonian period. These documents include contracts, judicial rulings, letters on legal cases, and reform documents such as that of [[Urukagina]], king of Lagash in the mid-3rd millennium BC, whose reforms combatted corruption. Mesopotamia has the most comprehensive surviving legal corpus from before the [[Digest of Justinian|'' Digest'' of Justinian]], even compared to those from [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Rome|Rome]].{{sfnp|Driver|Miles|1952|pp=56–57}}