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One of the first Babylonian kings to rule over the whole region left a long and important inscription, engraved in stone.
統治全國的頭一批巴比倫國王中有一個國王留下了一段這樣的重要銘文，它被鑿在一塊石頭上。
It is the oldest law-book in the world, and is known as the Code of Hammurabi.
這是世界上最古老的法典，即《漢謨拉比法典》。
His name may sound as if it comes out of a storybook, but there is nothing fanciful about his laws–they are strict and just.
這個名字聽起來像來自一本童話書，但是制定這些法典的國王是很清醒、嚴厲和公正的。
So it is worth remembering when King Hammurabi lived: around 1,700 BC, that is some 3,700 years ago.
所以你不妨也可以記住，漢謨拉比大約生活在什么時候: 大約在公元前1700年，也就是3700年前。
The Babylonians, and the Assyrians after them, were disciplined and hardworking, but they didn't paint cheerful pictures like the Egyptians.
巴比倫尼亞人以及后來的亞述人也都是紀律嚴明的的和勤奮的，但是他們沒有畫過埃及人那樣漂亮的圖畫。
Most of their statues and reliefs show kings out hunting, or inspecting kneeling captives bound in chains,
在他們大多數的雕像和浮雕中，往往能看到國王的狩獵活動和被捆綁住的俘虜跪在國王面前，
or foreign tribes-people fleeing before the wheels of their chariots, and warriors attacking fortresses.
還有由外族人拉動的戰車，向城堡沖鋒的武士。
The kings look forbidding, and have long black ringlets and rippling beards.
國王們陰沉著臉，長著又黑又長的卷發，蓄著波動的胡子。
They are also sometimes shown making sacrifices to Baal, the sun god, or to the moon goddess Ishtar or Astarte.
人們有時也看見他們在祭神，祭太陽神巴爾或月亮女神伊什塔耳或阿斯塔耳忒。
