Editing Hammurabi (section)

== Code of laws ==
{{Main|Code of Hammurabi}}
[[File:P1050763 Louvre code Hammurabi face rwk.JPG|thumb|upright=1|[[Code of Hammurabi]] stele. [[The Louvre|Louvre Museum]], Paris|left]]
The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of 282 laws dealing with a wide range of issues.<ref>{{cite wikisource|author=H. Otto Sommer|wslink=The Laws of Hammurabi, King of Babylonia|year=1908|publisher=Records of the Past, Volume II, Part III.}}</ref> It is not the earliest surviving law code{{sfnp|Driver|Miles|1952|p=9}}{{efn|It is predated by the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]], the [[Laws of Eshnunna]], and the [[Lipit-Ishtar|Code of Lipit-Ishtar]].{{sfn|Roth|1995|pp=13, 23, 57}}}} but was proved more influential in world politics and international relations{{sfn|Breasted|2003|p=141}}{{sfn|Bertman|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&q=adultery+in+ancient+Sumer&pg=PA71 71]}} as instead of focusing on compensating the victim of crime, as in earlier Sumerian law codes, the Code of Hammurabi instead focused on physically punishing the perpetrator.{{sfn|Bertman|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&q=adultery+in+ancient+Sumer&pg=PA71 71]}} It was also one of the first law codes to place restrictions on what a wronged person was allowed to do in [[Retributive justice|retribution]]{{sfn|Bertman|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&q=adultery+in+ancient+Sumer&pg=PA71 71]}} and one of the earliest examples of the idea of [[presumption of innocence]], suggesting that the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide [[evidence]].<ref>''Victimology: Theories and Applications'', [[Ann Burgess|Ann Wolbert Burgess]], Albert R. Roberts, Cheryl Regehr, [[Jones & Bartlett Learning]], 2009, p. 103</ref> The structure of the code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment. Many offenses resulted in death, disfigurement, or the use of the ''[[An eye for an eye|Lex Talionis]]'' philosophy ("[[Eye for an Eye|Eye for eye, tooth for tooth]]").{{sfn|Prince|1904|pp=606–607}}{{sfn|Bertman|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&q=adultery+in+ancient+Sumer&pg=PA71 71]}}

The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a [[stele]] and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, [[Susa]]; it was rediscovered there in 1901 in [[Iran]] and is now in the [[Louvre Museum]] in [[Paris]]. The code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, written by [[scribe]]s on 12 tablets.{{sfn|Breasted|2003|p=141}} Unlike earlier laws, it was written in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city. At this time, Akkadian replaced [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], and Hammurabi began language reforms that would make Akkadian the most common language at this time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maher |first1=John C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTPADgAAQBAJ |title=Multilingualism: A Very Short Introduction |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-872499-5 |page=108 |quote=... Akkadian (Babylonian) replaced Sumerian ... The Code of Hammurabi was written in the daily language of Babylon, Akkadian. Hammurabi (''c''.1810–1750 {{small|BC}}), the sixth king of the First Babylonian Empire, initiated language reforms to make Akkadian the pre-eminent lingua franca of antiquity; inscriptions have been found on stone, silver and clay artefacts.}}</ref> A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from [[Shamash]], the Babylonian god of justice,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kleiner|first1=Fred S.|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective|date=2010|publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning|location=Boston, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-495-57360-9|volume=1|page=29|edition=Thirteenth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBrvazPDFoYC&q=Hammurabi+code+Shamash&pg=PT61|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=17 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617233155/http://books.google.com/books?id=mBrvazPDFoYC|url-status=live}}</ref> and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by Shamash to bring the laws to the people.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=J. M. Powis|author1-link=John Merlin Powis Smith|title=The Origin and History of Hebrew Law|date=2005|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|location=Clark, New Jersey|isbn=978-1-58477-489-1|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNgR7RjfSs0C&q=Hammurabi+code+Shamash&pg=PA12|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=NNgR7RjfSs0C&q=Hammurabi+code+Shamash&pg=PA12|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because of Hammurabi's reputation as a lawgiver, his depiction can be found in law buildings throughout the world. Hammurabi is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in [[marble]] [[bas-relief]]s in the [[United States Capitol#House Chamber|chamber]] of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] in the [[United States Capitol]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=19 May 2008|url=http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/lawgivers/hammurabi.cfm|title=Hammurabi|publisher=[[Architect of the Capitol]]|archive-date=22 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122140950/https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/hammurabi-relief-portrait|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[frieze]] by [[Adolph Weinman]] depicting the "great lawgivers of history", including Hammurabi, is on the south wall of the [[United States Supreme Court building|U.S. Supreme Court building]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=19 May 2008 |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/north&southwalls.pdf |title=Courtroom Friezes |publisher=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601113942/https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/north%26southwalls.pdf |archive-date=1 June 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author-link=Joan Biskupic|last1=Biskupic|first1=Joan|title=Lawgivers: From Two Friezes, Great Figures of Legal History Gaze Upon the Supreme Court Bench|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1998/03/11/lawgivers-from-two-friezes-great-figures-of-legal-history-gaze-upon-the-supreme-court-bench/b9372b89-5b94-4fa2-81d9-300ee24913db/|access-date=28 November 2017|agency=The Washington Post|publisher=WP Company LLC|date=11 March 1998|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818105814/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1998/03/11/lawgivers-from-two-friezes-great-figures-of-legal-history-gaze-upon-the-supreme-court-bench/b9372b89-5b94-4fa2-81d9-300ee24913db/|url-status=live}}</ref>