Ur-Nammu

(2112 BC - 2095 BC)

The founder of the third Ur dynasty, Ur-Nammu (also known as Ur-Namma) is the author of the world’s oldest known law code, offering edicts addressing bodily injury, witchcraft, and runaway slaves. He is responsible for the construction of the Great Ziggurat of Ur, a mud-and-burnt-brick temple first excavated by a British vice consul in the 1850s and partially rebuilt by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.