"The object of the present work is to provide a complete and careful translation of the whole of the great Babylonian inscription containing the Laws of Hammurabi, and to bring together in a brief form all the known facts connected with the period of Babylonian history to which it belongs. As, moreove, many persons will be interested in tracing out the dependence of the Mosaic Laws upon the Babylonian legislation, a chapter has been devoted to that subject." -from Preface.