About this episode
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the significance of the Code of Hammurabi and its impact on legal history.
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the laws that Hammurabi (c1810 - c1750 BC), King of Babylon, had carved into a black basalt pillar in present day Iraq and which, since its rediscovery in 1901 in present day Iran, has affirmed Hammurabi's reputation as one of the first great lawmakers. Visitors to the Louvre in Paris can see it on display with almost 300 rules in cuneiform, covering anything from ‘an eye for an eye’ to how to handle murder, divorce, witchcraft, false accusations and more. The Code of Hammurabi, as it became known, made such an impression in Mesopotamia that it was copied and shared for a millennium after his death and, since its reemergence, Hammurabi and his Code have been commemorated in the US Capitol and the International Court of Justice. With Martin Worthington Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College Dublin Frances Reynolds Shillito Fellow and Associate Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at The Queen’s College And Selena Wisnom Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester Producer: Simon Tillotson Reading list: Zainab Bahrani, Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture…
People in this episode
Host: Misha Glenny
Guests: Frances Reynolds, Selena Wisnom
Topics covered
- Hammurabi
- ancient laws
- Mesopotamia
- cuneiform
- legal history
- Babylon
Keywords
- Hammurabi
- laws
- Babylon
- cuneiform
- ancient history
- legal codes
- Mesopotamia
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Trinity College Dublin, University of Oxford, The Queen’s College, University of Leicester
Books & works: Code of Hammurabi
Places: Babylon, Iraq, Iran, Louvre, Paris
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