1. Hammurabi’s Code
1700s BCE

2. What is a CODE?
code Function: noun 1 : a collection of laws arranged in some orderly way <criminal code> 2 : a system of principles or rules <moral code> 3 a : a system of signals for communicating b : a system of symbols (as letters or numbers) used to represent assigned and often secret meanings 4 : a set of instructions for a computer

3. Relief of Hammurabi and the god Shamash
Who was Hammurabi?
Member of the Amorite dynasty
King of Babylon from BCE
United all of Mesopotamia under the Babylonian Empire
Image retrieved from
Relief of Hammurabi and the god Shamash

4. Hammurabi’s Code Laws for Babylonian society
Tool to unify expanding empire
“That the strong might not injure the weak”
Allowed everyone to know the rules

5. What does it look like?
Image retrieved from

6. Loss and Unearthing
Map retrieved from

7. Central Historical Question
What does Hammurabi’s Code tell us about Babylonia?