where was the code of hammurabi placed? why was it placed there?

The Code of Hammurabi was originally inscribed on a basalt stele and placed in a public place in the ancient city of Babylon so that all could see it. The purpose of placing the stele there was to publicly display the laws for everyone, although literacy was limited at the time. According to the prologue on the stele, Hammurabi claimed to have received the laws from Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice, and the intention was to bring justice by preventing the strong from oppressing the weak. This public placement symbolized transparency and fairness in governance. The stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi was later taken as plunder by the Elamites in the 12th century BCE and moved to the ancient Elamite city of Susa, in present-day Iran, where it was discovered in 1901. The relocation to Susa was likely as a trophy of conquest by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte, who also had some of the original inscription erased to add his own texts, reflecting the political and military dynamics of the time long after Hammurabi’s reign.