The Code is inscribed in the Akkadian language, using cuneiform script carved into the stele. This nearly complete example of the Code is carved a diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger, 2.25-metre (7.4 ft) tall ( see images at right). The code was discovered by modern archaeologists in 1901, and its editio princeps translation published in 1902 by Jean-Vincent Scheil. A handful of provisions address issues related to military service. Only one provision appears to impose obligations on an official this provision establishes that a judge who reaches an incorrect decision is to be fined and removed from the bench permanently. A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family relationships such as inheritance, divorce, paternity and sexual behavior. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction, establishing the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, for example, or property that is damaged while left in the care of another.
Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract, establishing, for example, the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" ( lex talionis) as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a human-sized stone stele and various clay tablets. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 BC.