Like most rulers the actual control was exacted through fairly brutal means and use of military force. However, Hammurabi’s significance to modernity is that he is credited with having set down the first (as far as we know) set of written codes of conduct with corresponding punishments. In essence, Hammurabi is credited with establishing the first modern legal system with codified (written) laws and the first set of sentencing guidelines. The punishments subscribed were quite brutal in nature however and, in many ways, could be best described by the old adage and “eye for an eye”.

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