Hammurapi's code

the long version

"Hammurapi's Code is the best available mirror of Mesopotamian society and it is therein that the importance of the code lies. ... The impact of ancient Mesopotamia on the West was enormous, and the value of the code consists of its being our chief single source for reconstructing the sociology of Old Babylonia. Although only a specialist in ancient history is competent to judge the extent of Mesopotamian influence in the West, nevertheless the general reader can compare the legal, social, and commercial ideas of Old Babylonia with our own." -Introduction, p. 3.