Hammurabi of Babylon (r. 1792–1750 B.C.E.) was an extraordinarily successful military leader. Under his command, Hammurabi’s forces moved from victory to victory, uniting most of Mesopotamia under his rule. The era from his reign to around 1595 B.C.E.is called the Old Babylonian period.

Hammurabi’s most memorable accomplishment was the proclamation of an extensive law code, introduced about 1755 B.C.E. Like the codes of the earlier lawgivers, Hammurabi’s law code proclaimed that he issued his laws on divine authority “to establish law and justice in the language of the land, thereby promoting the welfare of the people.” Hammurabi’s code set a variety of punishments for breaking the law, including fines and physical punishment such as mutilation, whipping, and burning.

Hammurabi’s code provides a wealth of information about daily life in Mesopotamia. Because of farming’s fundamental importance, the code dealt extensively with agriculture. Tenants faced severe penalties for neglecting the land or not working it at all. Because irrigation was essential to grow crops, tenants had to keep the canals and ditches in good repair. Anyone whose neglect of the canals resulted in damaged crops had to bear all the expense of the lost crops. Those tenants who could not pay the costs were forced into slavery.

Hammurabi gave careful attention to marriage and the family. As elsewhere in the Near East, marriage had aspects of a business agreement. The groom or his father offered the prospective bride’s father a gift, and if this was acceptable, the bride’s father provided his daughter with a dowry. As in Sumer, after marriage the dowry belonged to the woman and was a means of protecting her rights and status. No marriage was considered legal without a contract, and although either party could break off the marriage, the cost was a stiff penalty.

The penalty for adultery, defined as sex between a married woman and a man not her husband, was death. A husband had the power to spare his wife by obtaining a pardon for her from the king. He could, however, accuse his wife of adultery even if he had not caught her in the act. In such a case she could try to clear herself, and if she was found innocent, she could take her dowry and leave her husband.

A father could not disinherit a son without just cause, and the code ordered the courts to forgive a son for his first offense. Men could adopt children into their families and include them in their wills, which artisans sometimes did to teach them the family trade, or wealthy landowners sometimes did to pass along land to able younger men, particularly if they had no children of their own.

The Code of Hammurabi demanded that the punishment fit the crime, calling for “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” at least among equals. However, a higher-ranking man who physically hurt a commoner or slave, perhaps by breaking his arm or putting out his eye, could pay a fine to the victim instead of having his arm broken or losing his own eye. As long as criminal and victim shared the same social status, however, the victim could demand exact vengeance.

Hammurabi’s code began with legal procedure. There were no public prosecutors or district attorneys, so individuals brought their own complaints before the court. Each side had to produce witnesses to support its case. In cases of murder, the accuser had to prove the defendant guilty; any accuser who failed to do so was to be put to death. Another procedural regulation declared that once a judge had rendered a verdict, he could not change it.

Consumer protection is not a modern idea; it goes back to Hammurabi’s day. A boat builder who did sloppy work had to repair the boat at his own expense. House builders guaranteed their work with their lives. If inhabitants died when a house collapsed, the builder was put to death. A merchant who tried to increase the interest rate on a loan forfeited the entire amount.