The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest and best-preserved legal codes in history. Carved into a seven-foot-tall black diorite stele, it features 282 laws that established the 'lex talionis' (law of retaliation), famously known as 'an eye for an eye.' The stele shows Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shamash, the sun god of justice, emphasizing that the laws were divine. While the punishments were often harsh and varied based on social class, the code introduced the crucial concept of 'presumption of innocence' and the idea that the state should provide a formal system of justice rather than leaving it to individual blood feuds. It was placed in public so that anyone who could read would know their rights and duties.