Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), the great king who created the Old Babylonian empire, is today mostly remembered for his famous law code.

Towards the end of his reign, Hammurabi ordered his law code to be carved on stelae which were placed in the temples bearing witness that the king had performed his important function of "king of justice" satisfactorily.

Hammurabi's laws represented the inhuman Law of Retaliation, "an Eye for an Eye", that was taken up in the laws of Moses and subsequent legislation.

The complete text consists of 48 lines in cuneiform script and enumerates 282 laws of which 247 are on the famous black basalt stele in the Louvre.

See: The Schoyen Collection