统治全国的头一批巴比伦国王中有一个国王留下了一段这样的重要铭文，它被凿在一块石头上。

It is the oldest law-book in the world, and is known as the Code of Hammurabi.

这是世界上最古老的法典，即《汉谟拉比法典》。

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.

这个名字听起来像来自一本童话书，但是制定这些法典的国王是很清醒、严厉和公正的。

So it is worth remembering when King Hammurabi lived: around 1,700 BC, that is some 3,700 years ago.

所以你不妨也可以记住，汉谟拉比大约生活在什么时候: 大约在公元前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.

巴比伦尼亚人以及后来的亚述人也都是纪律严明的的和勤奋的，但是他们没有画过埃及人那样漂亮的图画。

Most of their statues and reliefs show kings out hunting, or inspecting kneeling captives bound in chains,

在他们大多数的雕像和浮雕中，往往能看到国王的狩猎活动和被捆绑住的俘虏跪在国王面前，

or foreign tribes-people fleeing before the wheels of their chariots, and warriors attacking fortresses.

还有由外族人拉动的战车，向城堡冲锋的武士。

The kings look forbidding, and have long black ringlets and rippling beards.

国王们阴沉着脸，长着又黑又长的卷发，蓄着波动的胡子。

They are also sometimes shown making sacrifices to Baal, the sun god, or to the moon goddess Ishtar or Astarte.

人们有时也看见他们在祭神，祭太阳神巴尔或月亮女神伊什塔耳或阿斯塔耳忒。