The Code of Ur-Nammu is described as one of the earliest examples of what?

• A. Religious texts
• B. Royal decrees
• C. Written law codes
• D. Economic treaties

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how ancient societies formalized rules in writing. The Code of Ur-Nammu, from Sumer in the late third millennium BCE, is one of the oldest surviving sets of laws that were written down as a systematic collection. This isn’t just a religious text or a single royal order; it’s a designed framework of rules and penalties meant to govern behavior across the community, laid out in writing so officials could apply them consistently. That focus on codified, public laws—written rules that structure how people should act and what happens if they don’t—is what makes it a written law code. It predates later codes like Hammurabi’s, showing an early move from informal custom to formalized legal structures. The other options don’t capture that element of a organized, codified legal system.