Hammurabi's Code: The Secret History of the First Law Ever Written

Four thousand years ago, the world was governed by a single rule: the rule of the strongest. But in 1754 BCE, King Hammurabi of Babylon did something that changed the course of human history. He carved his laws into a seven-foot-tall pillar of black basalt, placing the law above the whims of men for the very first time.
We often hear the phrase "An Eye for an Eye," but Hammurabi’s Code was much more than just brutal revenge. From the first professional liability laws to the invention of marriage contracts and the terrifying "River Ordeals," we explore how these 282 laws turned a desert city into the world’s first legal superpower.
In this deep-dive documentary, we explore:
✅ The Shepherd of Babylon: How Hammurabi transformed a small city-state into a massive empire.
✅ Lex Talionis: The true meaning of "proportional justice" and why it was actually a step toward peace.
✅ A Divided Society: Why an eye was NOT worth an eye if you were a commoner or a slave.
✅ Death to the Builder: The shocking laws that held ancient architects and merchants accountable for their mistakes.
✅ The River Ordeal: What happened when human logic failed and the Gods were called to judge.
✅ The Stolen Stone: The incredible 1901 rediscovery of the Stele and its influence on the Bible and modern law.
Stay until the end to see how your modern rights were born on a black rock in the Mesopotamian desert 4,000 years ago.