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The Babylonian Empire
By around 1800’s B.C. the city-state of Babylon
had broken away from the control of Ur under its
king, Hammurabi.
Between 1790 B.C. and 1750 B.C., Hammurabi, the
king of the city-state of Babylon, conquered and
united most of Mesopotamia.
He formed a large empire that became known as
the Babylonian Empire.
Over the next 20 years, Hammurabi would invade
and conquer almost all of Babylon’s neighbors.
Other states which were unconquered were
forced to pay tribute in the form of grain, gold,
animals, or slaves.
During his 42-year reign, Hammurabi worked to rebuild
or expand many of Babylon’s temples as well as its
walls.
Hammurabi both encouraged and oversaw agriculture,
irrigation, and building projects.
To pay for this work he also improved Babylon’s tax
collection system so that all people in the empire paid a
fair share.
However, he is best known for a set of 282 laws which
came to be known as Hammurabi’s Code – the earliest
known set of written laws in the world.
Code of Hammurabi
Originally, each city-state had its own laws.
Hammurabi collected these laws, sorted them, and
came up with one collection of laws.
These laws covered such matters as family
relationships, taxes, land and business deals, trade,
loans, debts, wages, and crime.
Each crime had a specific punishment – often very
harsh.
Punishments were also unequal with slaves or poorer
people treated differently than the wealthy.
Women were also treated differently than men.
 Hammurabi changed the old laws that were unfair and
made clear those that were confusing.
 He had the code carved into stone and placed in a
public place for everyone to see.
 To Hammurabi, the code represented a way to rule.
 Some of the laws followed the idea of “an eye for an
eye.”
 These laws called for punishments that matched the
crimes that had been committed.
 For example, a man who broke someone’s arm in a
fight would be punished by having his or her arm
broken.
 After Hammurabi died in 1750 BC, the Babylonian Empire
entered into a swift decline as different parts began to
break away.
 An Akkadian dynasty once again ruled over lands to the
south with a people called the Kassites who invaded from
the northeast.