Mind-Benders of Mesopotamian History
Hammurabi's law stele was carried off as war loot to another country
The famous black stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws was raised in Babylonia — most likely in the city of Sippar, home of the sun god Shamash — but archaeologists dug it out of the ground in Susa, in what is now Iran. Centuries after it was carved, an Elamite king hauled it home as plunder; it was rediscovered there in 1901–02 and now stands in the Louvre.
How we know
Stele carved c. 1754 BCE, probably erected in Sippar (Babylonia); taken to Susa (Elam, modern Khuzestan, Iran) as booty by Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I in the 12th century BCE (c. 1155 BCE); excavated winter 1901–1902 by the de Morgan expedition; on display in the Louvre since 1904.
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.