The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first codifications of law, and is one of the significant achievements of Ancient Sumer.

Hammurabi (ca. 1792 - 1750 BC) united all of Mesopotamia and ruled for forty-three years in Babylon. Although Hammurabi's Code is not the first code of laws (the first records date four centuries earlier), it is the best preserved legal document reflecting the social structure of Babylon during Hammurabi's rule. The code contained two hundred eighty-two laws.

For the full text of the code see The Code of Hammurabi translated by LW King - Yale University Avalon Projectt