In 1901 Swiss archaeologist Gustav Jekk

discovered a large stone steely in what is today Western Iran.

That large stone was 2.5 meters or 7.5 feet tall

and was covered with cuneiform writing.

After it was translated, it was found to have been a list of

282 laws written down by the Babylonian king Hammurabi.

The laws covered many of the same issues that people deal with in the modern world today.

Learn more about Hammurabi's Code, the world's first written laws, on this episode of

Everything Everywhere Daily. everything everywhere daily. This episode is sponsored by audible.com. My audiobook recommendation today is

Babylon Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Krievichek. In Babylon Paul Krievichek.

In Babylon, Paul Krievichke tells the story of Mesopotamia, from the earliest settlement

7,000 years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the 6th century, B.C.E.

At the heart of this book is the story of Babylon which rose to prominence under

the King Hammurabi from about 1800 b.C. even as Babylon's fortunes waxed and

waned in never lost the allure as the ancient world's greatest

city. You can get a free one-month trial to audible and two free audio books by going

to audibletrial.com slash everything everywhere or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

Hammurabi was the king of the Babylonian Empire from approximately 1792 to 1750 b.C.

Just to put that into perspective, this was over a thousand years

before the city of Rome was even founded.

As Babylonian emperors went, Hammurabi was pretty successful.

When he rose to power, Babylon was still a relatively minor player in the region.

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