An 'eye for an eye' was carved into stone 3,800 years ago

Around 1754 BC, the Babylonian king Hammurabi had 282 laws inscribed on a stone stele, covering everything from wages to false accusations to property disputes. It's one of the oldest deciphered legal codes, and its harsh, literal justice — 'if a man destroys the eye of another man, his eye shall be destroyed' — still echoes in the phrase 'an eye for an eye'.

— Hammurabi, Code of Hammurabi — c. 1754 BC; stele discovered 1901