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King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, located along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers,from 1792-1750 BCE.The success of Hammurabi's military operations expanded Babylon north along the Tigris and Euphrates and south to what is now called The Persian Gulf.
During Hammuradi's reign he oversaw a great expansion of his kingdom from city-state to an empire.Babylon became the chief city of all Babylonia and as the cultural centre it became the universally admired model of true civilization for all Near Eastern peoples.

Today,Hammurabi is famous for a series of judgements inscribed on a large stone stele and referred to as Hammurabi's law code.The 7 foot stone was discovered in Susa in 1901.It had been dragged there by a victorious Elamite king and although broken in three places,has survived the centuries.It now stands in the Louvre.
Hammuradi's code consists of 282 laws engraved on a stone pillar with a scene at the top showing the king praying before Shamash,the god of Justice.It covers many legal questions but does not include every kind of case.In fact,it is not certain what the purpose of the pillar was and some scholars think it may have been just a sample of good laws to prove the king's concern for justice [hence the prayer to Shamash]They argue that it was like a modern day political campaign advertisement for the king to show he was on the side of the right.
The code begins with a prologue that explains the extensive restoration of the temples and religious cults of Babylon and Assyria.It then begins with direction for legal procedure and statements of penalties for such things as unjust accusations and injustice done by judges.
Then follows laws concerning property rights, loans ,debts ,family rights etc.It also talks about punishment and compensation for such things as personal injury.Harsh penalties were often inflicted:the surgeon who botched the operation had his hand cut off and the builder whose work collapsed and killed the owner of the house was executed!
The list of laws in the Hammurabi code are in a few cases like those found in the Pentateuch:both sources aim for justice but the Israelite law seems ,in these examples ,more demanding.Bab#195 decrees "if a son has struck his father they shall cut off his hand"
Exodus 21:15 demands "Whoever strikes his father or mother is to be put to death."
Generally speaking,the Babylonians often required money payments for injuries where The Israelite laws exacted physical punishment and had a higher percentage of death penalties.And the same can be said for Assyria which commonly dealt out drastic punishment.It is thought that the greater leniency of Babylon had a lot to do with it's large economy and its customary use of money to pay for everything
Babylon and other ancient Near Eastern nations shared with Israel an ideal of justice for the nation and especially for the ruler who is responsible for just government Hammurabi says at the end of his lawcode that he has written the precious words of the law "in order that the strong might not oppress the weak,that
justice might be dealt the orphan and the widow-to set the oppressed man's heart at ease" ANET 178
Thus we conclude That Hammurabi cared about the state and its citizens. In punishing crime the state was not motivated by a need for vengeance but by the need to make good the injury done.These are the ideas of our modern laws. Hammuradi's achievement in the light of our modern age is remarkable.

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