Assyrian law

Assyrian law, also known as the Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL) or the Code of the Assyrians, was an ancient legal code developed between 1450 and 1250 BCE in the Middle Assyrian Empire.^[1]: 272 It was very similar to Sumerian and Babylonian law,^[2] although the penalties for offenses were generally more brutal.^[2] The first copy of the code to come to light, dated to the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1114–1076 BCE), was discovered in the course of excavations by the German Oriental Society (1903–1914).^{[citation needed]} Three Assyrian law collections have been found to date.^[2] Punishments such as the cropping of ears and noses was common, as it was in the Code of Hammurabi, which was composed several centuries earlier.^[3] Murder was punished by the family being allowed to decide the death penalty for the murderer.^[4]