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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1780 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.

1800–1701 BC

The Eighteenth Century BC

1 work

c. 1754 BC

Akkadian

The Code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi of Babylon

Two hundred and eighty-two rulings cut into a black diorite pillar beneath a relief of the king receiving the rod and ring from the sun god. If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye; if a builder's house collapses and kills the owner's son, the builder's son is put to death.

Mesopotamian · Law codeExodusDeuteronomyLeviticusFull text