Around 1760 BC, King Hammurabi additional developed Babylonian law, by codifying and inscribing it in stone. Hammurabi placed several copies of his law code throughout the kingdom of Babylon as stelae, for the complete public to see; this became often identified as the Codex Hammurabi. The most intact copy of these stelae was found in the 19th century by British Assyriologists, and has since been totally transliterated and translated into numerous languages, including English, Italian, German, and French. The AJIL, which is published by the American Society of International Law, is the world’s preeminent peer-reviewed international law journal.

Some common …