Panchronia

The Code of Ur-Nammu

◍ Open on the globe

c. 2100 BC · Ur · Middle East · Politics

The oldest surviving law code, with fines instead of revenge

The Code of Ur-Nammu
Wikimedia Commons

Around 2100–2050 BC Ur-Nammu, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur, or his son Shulgi issued a law code, the oldest that survives. It is three centuries older than Hammurabi's, and for bodily injury it imposes fines in silver rather than retaliation.

State: Third Dynasty of Ur