Cuneiform law
Unlike modern codes, Cuneiform law provides no universal formula for general areas of law. Rather, laws typically consist of specific "if... then..." cases that are meant to act as an example or precedent. Punishments for crimes vary from code to code, but not all prescribe vengeance. Some call only for fines in certain instances, such as in the Code of Ur-Nammu, where one line reads: "If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out one-half a mina of silver." These cases are sometimes arranged in a seemingly random order, though this may be the result of an inability to properly interpret them today as they would have been at the time they were in force.
Thomas Hyde
In his chief work, "Historia religionis veterum Persarum" (1700) [The History of the religion of ancient Persia], he made the first attempt to correct from Oriental sources the errors of the Greek and Roman historians who had described the religion of the ancient Persians. He identified Zoroaster as a religious reformer. In this book, Hyde also coined the word "cuneiform".
His other writings and translations comprise "Tabulae longitudinum et latitudinum stellarum fixarum ex observatione principis Ulugh Beighi" (1665) [Tables of the longitudes and latitudes of the fixed stars from the main observatory of Ulugh Beg], to which his notes have given additional value; "Quatuor evangelia et acta apostolorum lingua Malaica, characteribus Europaeis "(1677) [The four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles in the Malay language, [written with] European characters]; "Epistola de mensuris et ponderibus serum sive sinensium "(1688) [Letter on the measures and weights of the northern Chinese or the southern Chinese], appended to Edward Bernard's "De mensuris et ponderibus antiquis" [On ancient measures and weights]; Abraham Peritsol's "Itinera mundi" (1691) [World journeys]; and "De ludis orientalibus libri II" (1694) [On oriental games, book II] in which he described various Chinese games including Coan ki and where he gave also the first full Latin description of weiqi.