The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice. Hammurabi’s Code was carved onto a massive, finger-shaped black stone stele (pillar) that was looted by invaders and finally rediscovered in 1901.

The Hammurabi Code encapsulates 282 legal codes that were used to basically govern the people of ancient Babylon during King Hammurabi’s reign. Written in the dominant language at the time, the Akkadian language, the code provided a legal framework for the exchange of goods and services in the ancient city-state of Babylon.

Historians describe the Hammurabi code as a surviving symbol of an ancient Mesopotamian system for solving disputes, punishing crimes and regulating business practices, which was an early influence upon the development over many centuries of the systems of laws and courts that govern the U.S. and other modern societies.