The Code of Hammurabi is an ancient example of a legal framework. It was laid down about three thousand years or so ago by a Mesopotamian ruler (Hammurabi). It is arguably the oldest constitution ever written by human hands, and a very early effort at consolidating a single set of rules for an entire population. The Code of Hammurabi could also refer to the stone monolith upon which it was carved, which now resides in the Louvre.