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Stele of Hammurabi, 1792-1750 BC
The Stele of Hammurabi is a large stone monument that displays the Code of Hammurabi, an ancient code of law, written by the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi in 1790 BC. The code is written in Akkadian, the vernacular language of that period, so that all citizens would understand it, although most people at that time were illiterate. Egyptologist Gustav Jequier discovered the stele in 1901 in what is now Khuzestan, Iran, where it was taken by the Elamite king Shutruk -- Nahhunte in the 12th century BC. |