The Code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws chiseled onto a pillar of basalt rock. The upper register is a picture of Hammurabi kneeling in prayer before the sun god Shamash, the patron god of justice. The bottom register contains the Code of Hammurabi in cuneiform. This standing stone was a monument to justice and did not first of all function as a reference manual for the use of judges at court, but gave public testimony to the character of Hammurabi as a promoter of righteousness.

18th century B.C.E., Musée du Louvre, Paris -- Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis