Babylon under Hammurabi
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Hammurabi, sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon, ruled from about 1792 to 1750 BCE and turned a minor city-state into the dominant power in Mesopotamia. He inherited a realm hemmed in by Larsa, Mari and Eshnunna, and conquered them one by one, taking Larsa in 1761 and Mari in 1759, so that his authority reached the Persian Gulf. His law code, inscribed on a diorite stele now in the Louvre, begins with a prologue in which the gods Anu and Enlil hand kingship to Marduk and Hammurabi receives the task of making justice prevail. Its 282 provisions cover theft, irrigation, surgical fees, builder's liability, inheritance and the famous principle of an eye for an eye, though penalties varied with the social rank of the victim. The code was meant to be read in public, and copies were sent to the provinces. Beyond the law, Hammurabi rebuilt temples, restored canals and corresponded with his officials in letters that survive in their hundreds. Babylon became a cultural centre whose name for a city never left the languages of the region. After his son Samsu-iluna lost much of the south, the dynasty declined within a century. Babylonian astronomy and mathematics later divided the circle into 360 degrees.