Who was Babylonian king Hammurabi?

 Hammurabi, also spelled Hammurapi, was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from around 1792 to 1750 BC

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. He inherited the power from his father, Sin-Muballit, and during his reign, he conquered the city-states of Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari

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. Hammurabi ousted Ishme-Dagan I, the king of Assyria, and forced his son Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute, bringing almost all of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule

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.Hammurabi is best known for issuing the Code of Hammurabi, which he claimed to have received from Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice

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. This code of laws was once considered the oldest promulgation of laws in human history

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. Unlike earlier Sumerian law codes, Hammurabi's code was comprehensive, covering both civil and criminal matters

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. The code was inscribed in stone on a monument showing Hammurabi being blessed by the sun god Shamash

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.Hammurabi was an able administrator, an adroit diplomat, and a canny imperialist

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. He was patient in the achievement of his goals and personally engaged in the details of implementing changes during his reign

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. His reign brought about changes affecting nearly all spheres of life, aimed at the consolidation of conditions resulting from the transformation of a small city

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.Even after the empire he built collapsed, Hammurabi was still revered as a model ruler, and many kings across the Near East claimed him as an ancestor

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. His reign became the frame of reference for all events occurring in the distant past for later Mesopotamians

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. Hammurabi's eminence in Mesopotamian history is well recognized, and he is regarded as an important figure in the history of law

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what was the code of hammurabi? The Code of Hammurabi is a comprehensive set of 282 laws that were developed during the reign of Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babylon, from 1792 to 1750 BC

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. It is considered the most complete and perfect extant collection of Babylonian laws

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. The code was inscribed on a stela, a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerary or commemorative purposes

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.The laws cover a wide range of topics, including economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), criminal law (assault and theft), and civil law (slavery and debt)

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. The penalties for violating these laws varied according to the status of the offenders and the circumstances of the offenses

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.The Code of Hammurabi was advanced for its time, moving beyond tribal custom and recognizing no blood feud, private retribution, or marriage by capture

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. It was meant to be applied to a wider realm than any single country and to integrate Semitic communities

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.The code was discovered by French archaeologists in 1901 in the ancient city of Susa, which is in modern-day Iran

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. Despite what many people believe, this code of laws was not the first. However, it is significant because it represents one of the earliest and most complete legal codes

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.Hammurabi stated in the prologue to the list of laws that he wanted "to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked person and the evil-doer, so that the strong should not harm the weak"

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. This indicates that the code was intended to provide a universal set of laws for all of the diverse peoples Hammurabi had conquered

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