The

legal code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

was a common feature of the legal systems of the ancient Middle East. Many of them are examples of

cuneiform law Cuneiform law refers to any of the legal codes written in cuneiform script, that were developed and used throughout the ancient Middle East among the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, Hurrians, Kassites, and Hittites. The Code of ...

. The Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BCE), then the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BCE), are amongst the earliest originating in the

Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...

. In the Roman empire, a number of codifications were developed, such as the Twelve Tables of Roman law (first compiled in 450 BCE) and the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian, also known as the Justinian Code (429–534 CE). In ancient China, the first comprehensive criminal code was the Tang Code, created in 624 CE in the Tang Dynasty. In India, the

Edicts of Ashoka The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the exp ...

(269–236 BCE) were followed by the Law of Manu (200 BCE). The following is a list of ancient legal codes in chronological order: *

Cuneiform law Cuneiform law refers to any of the legal codes written in cuneiform script, that were developed and used throughout the ancient Middle East among the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, Hurrians, Kassites, and Hittites. The Code of ...

** Code of Urukagina (2380–2360 BCE) **

Code of Ur-Nammu The Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest known law code surviving today. It is from Mesopotamia and is written on tablets, in the Sumerian language Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating back to ...

, king of Ur (c. 2050 BCE). Copies with slight variations found in Nippur, Sippar and Ur ** Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BCE)Code of Nesilim
/ref> ** Codex of

Lipit-Ishtar Lipit-Ishtar ( Akkadian: ''Lipit-Ištar''; ''fl.'' ''c.'' 1870 BC – ''c.'' 1860 BC by the short chronology of the ancient near east) was the 5th king of the First Dynasty of Isin, according to the ''Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). Also according ...

Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited ...

(c. 1870 BCE) ** Babylonian law ***

Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...

(c. 1750 BCE in middle chronology) ** Hittite laws, also known as the 'Code of the Nesilim' (developed c. 1650–1500 BCE, in effect until c. 1100 BCE) *

Law of Moses The Law of Moses ( he, תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The law revealed to Moses by God. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew ...

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

(10th–6th century BCE) **

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

(Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later

talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

ic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions) * Assyrian law, also known as the Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL) or the Code of the Assyrians/Assura (developed c. 1450–1250 BCE, oldest extant copy c. 1075 BCE)Code of the Assura
/ref> * Draconian constitution (late 7th century BCE) * Solonian Constitution (early 6th century BCE) * Gortyn code (5th century BCE) * Twelve Tables of

Roman Law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

(451 BCE) *

Buddhist Law The dharmachakra ( Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circ ...

(269–236 BCE) * Law of Manu (c. 200 BCE) * Tirukkural, Ancient

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

laws and ethics compiled by Thiruvalluvar (31 BCE–500 CE) *

Corpus Juris Civilis The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperors, Byzantine Emperor. It is also ...

(compiled 529–534 CE) **

Code of Justinian The Code of Justinian ( la, Codex Justinianus, or ) is one part of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', the codification of Roman law ordered early in the 6th century AD by Justinian I, who was Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople. Two other units ...

** Digest or Pandects ** Institutes of Justinian ** ''

Novellae Constitutiones The ("new constitutions"; grc, Νεαραὶ διατάξεις), or ''Justinian's Novels'', are now considered one of the four major units of Roman law initiated by Roman emperor Justinian I in the course of his long reign (AD 527–565). The ...

'' *

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

or Islamic Law (c. 570;

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

was not codified until the Ottoman Mecelle of the 1870s, the other schools were even later) * Traditional Chinese law ** Tang Code (624 to 637) * Visigothic Code (642–653 CE * Gentoo Code (origins unknown; translated from Sankskrit into Persian, English, German and French in 1776–1778) * Early Irish law or Brehon Law (8th century CE)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Legal Codes, List of Legal codes Legal codes Law in ancient history Law-related lists

See also

References