The Louvre
Photo: Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Louvre Museum in Paris houses the world's most extensive collection of ancient Near Eastern artifacts, including the famous Code of Hammurabi stele. This magnificent palace-turned-museum spans approximately 782,910 square feet across three wings, making it the world's largest art museum. Visitors encounter over 35,000 works of art displayed throughout its grand galleries, from the iconic glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei to the medieval fortress foundations visible in the basement. The museum's Department of Near Eastern Antiquities contains tens of thousands of artifacts spanning 9,000 years of civilization from Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Levant. Among the Near Eastern artifacts displayed here is the Code of Hammurabi stele, which some ancient astronaut theorists propose represents divine—possibly extraterrestrial—transmission of legal knowledge, pointing to Hammurabi's account of receiving the laws from the god Shamash. Archaeologists and historians, however, contextualize the stele's prologue within standard ancient Near Eastern royal tradition, where divine sanction was a common rhetorical device used to legitimize a ruler's authority and legal innovations. The 282 laws inscribed on this 1754 BCE basalt artifact remain one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes, offering insights into Babylonian society regardless of the spiritual framework ancient scribes used to authenticate it.
Timeline
Original Louvre fortress constructed by Philippe Auguste
Pierre Lescot begins transforming the medieval fortress into a Renaissance palace
Louvre opens as a public museum during the French Revolution
Code of Hammurabi stele discovered at Susa and later acquired by the Louvre
What the Show Claims
- ›The Code of Hammurabi represents genuine transmission of advanced legal wisdom from a divine or extraterrestrial being to King Hammurabi, as evidenced by Hammurabi's claim that the god Shamash dictated the laws to him in a tranceS09E04
Theorist Takes
“The system of law that comes through the Code of Hammurabi is so intrinsic to the basic moral understandings of how to run a society that much of it is still preserved in some form in our modern day legal system. This suggests that the Code of Hammurabi comes from a very advanced point of origin.”
“In my mind, King Hammurabi was documenting exactly what happened: he was advised by an extraterrestrial.”
From the Transcripts
“The Louvre. Paris, France. This historic museum houses perhaps the most significant legal text in the ancient world. This stele features the Babylonian god Shamash talking to King Hammurabi”
“Ancient astronaut theorists believe that housed in the Louvre is an unlikely clue to the mystery of the Dogon tribe of Mali. It's a carved stone made of basalt with a depiction of the Babylonian King Hammurabi speaking with a divine being.”
What Archaeology Says
The Code of Hammurabi stele was discovered in 1901 by French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan during excavations at the ancient city of Susa in modern-day Iran. The black basalt monument, standing nearly eight feet tall, had been taken as war booty by the Elamites around 1158 BCE from its original location in Babylon. The stele's discovery revolutionized understanding of ancient legal systems and provided scholars with one of the most complete examples of early written law.
The artifact consists of a relief carving at the top showing King Hammurabi receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash, followed by a prologue, 282 individual laws, and an epilogue — all inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform script. Modern archaeological analysis has confirmed the stele dates to approximately 1754 BCE during Hammurabi's reign over the Babylonian Empire. The laws cover everything from property rights and trade regulations to family relationships and criminal justice, revealing a sophisticated understanding of legal principles.
Scholars widely agree that the Code represents a compilation and standardization of existing Mesopotamian legal traditions rather than entirely new legislation. The divine authorization claimed in the prologue follows standard ancient Near Eastern royal rhetoric, where rulers typically attributed their authority to divine mandate. Archaeological evidence from other Mesopotamian sites shows similar legal concepts existed before Hammurabi's time, suggesting the Code codified rather than originated these legal principles.
What remains intriguing to researchers is the Code's remarkable sophistication and its influence on later legal systems throughout the ancient world. The principle of proportional justice and the detailed attention to commercial law suggest a highly developed urban civilization, though questions persist about how widely these laws were actually implemented versus serving primarily as royal propaganda.
Mysteries & Fun Facts
The Code of Hammurabi contains the famous principle of 'an eye for an eye,' though this applied literally only in cases between social equals
The stele's cuneiform inscription contains approximately 4,000 lines of text, making it one of the longest surviving ancient documents
Three columns of text were deliberately erased from the original stele, likely by the Elamites who captured it, creating gaps in the legal code
The Louvre's collection includes over 100,000 ancient Near Eastern artifacts, spanning from 10,000 BCE to the Islamic conquest of the 7th century CE
Planning a Visit
The Louvre is easily accessible via the Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre metro station and welcomes millions of visitors annually. The Code of Hammurabi stele is permanently displayed in the Richelieu Wing's Department of Near Eastern Antiquities on the ground floor. Visitors should plan several hours to explore the extensive ancient collections, and advance ticket booking is highly recommended.
Located in central Paris, France
Visit during weekday mornings or late afternoons to avoid the largest crowds, particularly around the famous artworks. Winter months generally see fewer tourists, though the museum maintains comfortable indoor conditions year-round.
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Louvre Museum (Code of Hammurabi Stele), Paris
FranceTheorists argue that the stele depicting King Hammurabi receiving the law code from a divine being is evidence that Babylonian rulers were instructed by extraterrestrials, and that the god Dagon — whose name resembles Dogon and Nommo — was an amphibious alien visitor from Sirius B. Mainstream historians identify the divine figure as the sun god Shamash and regard the stele as a monument to Hammurabi's authority as a divinely-sanctioned lawgiver.
Related Sites
Ur / Ancient Mesopotamia
The birthplace of Mesopotamian civilization and cuneiform writing that enabled legal codes like Hammurabi's
Nippur
Major Sumerian religious center that influenced legal and governmental traditions inherited by later Babylonian rulers
Uruk
One of the world's first cities where early legal and administrative systems developed, setting precedents for Hammurabi's later codification
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Historical data sourced from Wikipedia