*Depiction on the top of a stele containing the entire text of the Code of Hammurabi, of the god Shamash dictating the laws to the king. Carved about 3,792 years ago.* In addition to Mesopotamia, bronze strengthened the civilizations of the Indus Valley, China, and Egypt. After the fall of Akkad, a series of Amorite rulers from beyond the northwestern borders of Mesopotamia migrated into the region about 3,900 years ago and established Babylon. The city became center of a new empire and its most famous ruler, Hammurabi, reigned between 3,792 and 3,750 years ago. Hammurabi is remembered for his law code, another ancient text written about 3,755 years ago. The *[Code of Hammurabi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi)* includes 282 laws, described in "if-then" formulas such as "If a man puts out the eye of another man, then his eye shall be put out." In addition to laws covering theft, false accusation, and temple robbery (all punishable by death), the code set rules for commerce, slavery, inheritance, and professional accountability (for example, #229: "If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death." For full text translation: http://faculty.collin.edu/mbailey/hammurabi's%20laws.htm. The Babylonian empire lasted beyond the end of the bronze age into the iron age and extended from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. It was finally ended about 2,500 years ago when the Persian Empire expanded under Cyrus the Great. We will cover that in more detail in a later chapter. ![[Media/Hammurabi's_Babylonia_1.svg.png]] ----- Next: [[4.19 - Hittites]] Back: [[4.17 - Akkadian Empire]]