PunkRockGirl/ancient-law

Ancient Law - Document Images and Translations

A comprehensive collection of ancient legal documents with original images, transcriptions, and translations.

Purpose

This dataset supports:

1. Historical legal research - Study the evolution of law from earliest written codes
2. Machine translation training - Ancient language → modern language pairs
3. OCR/HTR development - Train models on cuneiform, hieroglyphics, ancient scripts
4. Comparative legal analysis - Track how legal concepts evolved

Document Coverage

Mesopotamian (Cuneiform)

Document	Date	Language	Status
Code of Ur-Nammu	~2100 BCE	Sumerian	Pending
Laws of Eshnunna	~1930 BCE	Akkadian	Pending
Code of Hammurabi	~1754 BCE	Akkadian	Pending
Hittite Laws	~1650 BCE	Hittite	Pending
Middle Assyrian Laws	~1076 BCE	Akkadian	Pending

Egyptian

Document	Date	Language	Status
Code of Ma'at	Various	Egyptian	Pending
Edict of Horemheb	~1300 BCE	Egyptian	Pending

Classical Antiquity

Document	Date	Language	Status
Laws of Draco	621 BCE	Greek	Pending
Laws of Solon	594 BCE	Greek	Pending
Twelve Tables	450 BCE	Latin	Pending
Corpus Juris Civilis	529-534 CE	Latin	Pending

Medieval

Document	Date	Language	Status
Magna Carta	1215 CE	Latin	Pending
Statute of Westminster	1275 CE	Latin/French	Pending

Religious Law

Document	Date	Language	Status
Torah/Pentateuch	Various	Hebrew	Pending
Talmud (selections)	200-500 CE	Hebrew/Aramaic	Pending
Sharia foundations	7th-9th CE	Arabic	Pending
Code of Manu	~200 BCE	Sanskrit	Pending

Data Structure

ancient_law/
├── images/
│   ├── hammurabi/
│   │   ├── stele_full.jpg
│   │   ├── column_01.jpg
│   │   ├── column_02.jpg
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── ur_nammu/
│   ├── magna_carta/
│   └── ...
├── transcriptions/
│   ├── hammurabi_akkadian.txt
│   ├── hammurabi_transliteration.txt
│   └── ...
├── translations/
│   ├── hammurabi_english.txt
│   ├── hammurabi_french.txt
│   └── ...
└── metadata.json

Schema

Each document entry contains:

{
  "id": "hammurabi",
  "title": "Code of Hammurabi",
  "alternate_titles": ["Codex Hammurabi", "Laws of Hammurabi"],
  "date_composed": "-1754",
  "date_range": "-1792 to -1750",
  "language_original": "akk",
  "script": "cuneiform",
  "physical_location": "Louvre Museum, Paris",
  "discovery_date": "1901",
  "discovery_location": "Susa (modern Shush, Iran)",
  "images": ["stele_full.jpg", "column_01.jpg", ...],
  "transcription_file": "hammurabi_akkadian.txt",
  "transliteration_file": "hammurabi_transliteration.txt",
  "translations": {
    "en": "hammurabi_english.txt",
    "fr": "hammurabi_french.txt"
  },
  "provisions_count": 282,
  "topics": ["property", "family", "commerce", "crime", "slavery"],
  "significance": "One of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length",
  "source_urls": [
    "https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp",
    "https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/law-code-hammurabi-king-babylon"
  ]
}

Translation Pipeline

This dataset integrates with the multi-tradition translator system:

1. Image → OCR/HTR - Extract text from document images
2. Transliteration - Convert ancient scripts to Latin characters
3. Translation - Ancient language → modern languages
4. Analysis - Legal concept extraction and comparison

Integration

Part of the Global Investigation Nexus legal research infrastructure:

• PunkRockGirl/the-law - Modern legal codes
• PunkRockGirl/ancient-law - Ancient codes with images (this dataset)
• PunkRockGirl/treaties - Treaties and international agreements

License

Images: Public domain (ancient documents) Transcriptions/Translations: CC-BY-4.0 Metadata: CC-BY-4.0

Contributing

We welcome contributions of:

• Higher resolution document images
• Transcriptions in original scripts
• New translations
• Corrections to existing translations