PASTEXPERIENCE HISTORY

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Around 1750 BCE

Hammurabi’s stele

A stele recording disputes over trade, family and work invites comparison with modern law.

Babylon

The city and royal justice

Who compensates a flooded neighbor, and how should debt, inheritance or failed work be judged? The stele presents 282 judgments beneath a scene of the king before Shamash, god of sun and justice. Everyday cases appear together with an image asserting royal authority to judge.

[1] Musée du Louvre[2] Musée du Louvre[3] Musée du Louvre[5] Musée du Louvre[6] GrandPalaisRmn

Debt, family and irrigation disputes

An eye for an eye did not apply identically to everyone. Bodily penalties and monetary payments depended partly on social status. Rules protecting order also embedded inequality.

Irrigation cases connect compensation with neglected channels or embankments. A resource supporting harvest could damage neighbors, linking shared infrastructure with individual obligations.

[1] Musée du Louvre[2] Musée du Louvre[4] Musée du Louvre

Protected rights and persistent inequality

The judgments present royal justice, not a complete archive of actual trials. Made in Babylonia, the stele was found at Susa in 1901–1902 and is now in the Louvre. Production, movement and discovery took place in different settings.

[1] Musée du Louvre[2] Musée du Louvre[3] Musée du Louvre[6] GrandPalaisRmn

Before and after

  1. Around 1750 BCE

    The stele was produced in Babylonia.

  2. 1901–1902

    The stele was found at Susa, away from its region of production.

  3. 1902

    Scheil published the first translation of the text.

Key terms

Case
A particular situation paired with a judgment.
Status
Social position affecting rights and obligations.
Stele
An upright stone monument bearing writing or images.

What supports the account?

Status affects penalties.

Museum interpretation describes differing penalties.

Limits of the evidence

This is not modern legal equality.

[1] Musée du Louvre

Check your understanding

Choose an answer to reveal the explanation. Return to the article and sources when you are unsure.

1. Does an irrigation-compensation case prove equal treatment regardless of status?

Sources

  1. Le Code de HammurabiMusée du Louvre

    The stele around 1750 BCE, case-based judgments and status-dependent penalties.

  2. Nul n’est censé ignorer la loiMusée du Louvre

    Earlier legal traditions and everyday disputes recorded on the stele.

  3. Hammurabi stele collection recordMusée du Louvre

    Cuneiform, Shamash, region of creation and discovery at Susa.

  4. Hammurabi and responsibilities for waterMusée du Louvre

    Compensation when neglected embankments and channels damage neighbors.

  5. The stele’s 282 judgmentsMusée du Louvre

    Judgments concerning family, property, commerce and work, and the king before a god.

  6. Discovery and translation of the steleGrandPalaisRmn

    Discovery in 1901–1902 and Scheil’s first translation in 1902; its general claim of earliest law is not adopted.

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