Hammurabi Code A well-preserved Babylonian Code of Law of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 BC

If any one accuses another of murder but cannot prove it, then the accuser shall be put to death.

If a free person puts out the eye of another free person, that person's eye shall be put out.

If a free person breaks the bone of another free person, that person's bone shall be broken.

If a son strikes his father, his hand shall be cut off.

If a slave says to the master, "you are not my master," the master shall cut off the slave's ear.

If a free man's wife wishes to divorce him, the man may divorce her and give her no settlement. If the man does not wish to divorce her, he may marry another woman and keep his first wife in his house as a slave.

If a free person is in debt and loses a crop because of a natural disaster, the contract shall be changed so that person will not owe the creditor any interest for the year.

If a free person who has borrowed cannot repay the loan with silver but can repay it with grain, the merchant who made the loan is obligated to accept the grain at the rate of exchange set by the king; if the merchant tries to raise the interest-rate, that merchant shall forfeit both the capital and the interest.

If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death

If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined

If a fire break out in a man's house and a man who goes to extinguish it casts his eye on the furniture of the owner of the house, and take the furniture of the owner of the house, that man shall be thrown into that fire.