• The Code of Hammurabi
  • c. 1792 to 1750 B.C.E
  • Basalt
  • Babylon (modern Iran)

The Code of Hammurabi

  • Image of power
    • Depiction of Hammurabi given a staff and ring by a divine being (seen through rays of fire emitted by him)
  • Basalt was difficult to carve
    • advanced techniques and tools to carve
    • wealthy and revered significance
    • basalt to mean eternity because of its resistance to wear
  • Writing is in cuneiform
  • First written laws describing consequences of actions
    • EX: If you steal, your hand gets cut off

hammurabi