" that material like Hammurabi’s stele imposed no obligations on society or the courts. It did not represent at any level the “law of the land,” and there is no call to obey. This assessment is confirmed by the fact that it does not serve as a reference in the judicial system, which is illuminated for us through thousands of court documents. "

― , Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible