Hammurabbi, who heard songs of the Goddess Ishtar, inherited a minor kingdom and conquered Mesopotamia. He made all people pay homage to Marduk, God of Babylon. Then he put up monuments at every crossroads and plaza. These stone pillars depicted Shamash, God of Law, delivering tablets of law to Hammurabbi. Each monument contained twelve tablets, upon which were written 282 laws total. Other kings had written laws for restitution and recompense, but Hammurabbi’s Code described gruesome punishments: the amputation of an arm or an eye; death.

  Among Hammurabbi’s armies, there were seven knights who had dedicated their lives to the defense of freedom. They had different backgrounds, but they loved each other and fought as one. They took vows of Virtue and Righteousness. They supported Hammurabbi because he had led them to war against an invader. When that invader fell, Hammurabbi fell fiercely upon a former ally, who had pledged aid then withheld it. This ally fell also before Hammurabbi’s armies, and the seven knights grew uneasy, whispering rumors of their lord’s ambitions. Hammurabbi went to war with Assyria. The knights took another vow: they would always follow Freedom above any lord, and they would take no collective action unless they all agreed to it. When Hammurabbi put up his monuments and his soldiers began to chop off hands, the knights took up their arms and left his service. They bought a ship. They sailed around the world and gathered a large crew, carrying warning of the coming tyranny.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Hammurabbi died in 1750 AD and his son, Samsu-iluna, presided over the decline of Babylon. Under the Roman Empire, cults of Terminus, God of Borders, considered stories of the Seven Knights to be heretical. They burned all records of their adventures.