Hammurabi

Hammurabi (c. 1810 BC to c. 1750 BC) was the sixth Amorite king of Babylon, reigning from about 1792 BC to 1750 BC, who conquered the city states of Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari and brought most of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule. He is best known for issuing his law code, presented as a revelation from the Babylonian god of justice Shamash, which broke from earlier Sumerian codes such as the Code of Ur-Nammu by placing greater emphasis on the physical punishment of the offender and by establishing a presumption of innocence for the accused. Rediscovered by archaeologists in the late nineteenth century, Hammurabi is remembered above all as the ideal ancient lawgiver.