The Code of Hammurabi
Description
The Code of Hammurabi is a book by Leonard William King, first published in 1915. It presents a clear English translation of the celebrated Babylonian law code traditionally attributed to King Hammurabi.
Inscribed in cuneiform on a basalt stele and rediscovered in 1901, the laws offer a window into ancient Mesopotamia and the everyday concerns of an early urban society—contracts and property, prices and wages, family and inheritance, crime and punishment. King’s rendering helped bring Akkadian legal texts to a wider readership at a time when Assyriology was rapidly opening the ancient Near East to modern study.
Beyond its famous “eye for an eye” formulations, the code reveals a sophisticated legal culture that distinguished social classes, set standards for commerce and professional conduct, and sought to “prevent the strong from oppressing the weak.” For readers interested in legal history, cuneiform studies, or the roots of Western jurisprudence, this translation remains a concise, readable starting point.
- Formats
- PDF, EPUB, AZW3
- Page Count (PDF)
- 32
Note: All of the books available here were first published generations ago. Care has been taken to produce clear, readable files, and each ebook is fully formatted with features such as a linked table of contents and clearly structured chapter headings. Where applicable, illustrations and footnotes have also been carefully presented for ease of reading. None of these ebooks are DRM-protected. As with any historical text, occasional imperfections may remain.
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