The Code of Hamurabi was a set of laws created in Mesopotamia, around the XVIII century BC, by King Hamurabi of the first Babylonian dynasty. The code was based on the Lex Talionis, which stated "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Although it may seem a little barbaric for nowadays standards, the code was actually very sophisticated at that time, and provided a set of measures regarding property, family, work and human life. The code prescribed that for each act of law infraction, there must be a proportional punishment.
Although there was no equality before the law, considering that the Babylon empire was a society based on hierarchic principles, the purpose of this code was to homogenize the kingdom legally and ensure a common culture, therefore, holding the key to a civilized human organization, where human disputes could be settled by a law in common.
