Assyrian law was very similar to Sumerian and Babylonian law, although the penalties for offenses were generally more brutal and barbaric. The first copy of the code to come to light, dated to the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, was discovered in the course of excavations by the German Oriental Society (1903–1914). Three Assyrian law collections have been found to date. 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. Murder was punished by the family being allowed to decide the death penalty for the murderer.