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Ur-Nammu Code

The Code of Ur-Nammu marks a decisive turn in the history of liberty: justice is no longer vengeance, but measured law, with penalties scaled to offenses and fines preferred over violence. By insisting that punishment be predictable, proportional, and publicly known, Ur-Nammu helped move human societies closer to the idea that law exists to restrain power rather than amplify it. The code is an early embodiment of the ideal of the rule of law.