Why were so many of the 282 laws about farming and irrigation?

They wanted things done a certain way.

Explanation:

When you imagine something in your head you think of it and when it actually happens you want it to be just like you imagined it. In order to have it just the way that you want it you have to have rules so that it would stay just as you wanted it. If something were messed up or done wrong while farming that could cause a time where they go with out and there could be hard time where some people go without food if even one little thing is done wrong.

explanation: we can only guess at how our actions may be perceived in the future. doing something really big like killing lots of people, saving lots of people, affecting the lives of lots of people is a sure fire way of being remembered in historical records. we can also make a difference in the history records by being a small influence on something bigger, whether that is as a civil servant, scientist or artist.

of course you could argue that we all affect history just as tiny cogs in a   bigger machine.

if you mean how do people influence our opinions of things which have already happened, then simply by writing a book which looks at things form a different perspective and trying to convince people that this perspective is more accurate or truthful. people do it all the time i.e. richard the third was a terrible or was he? plenty would disagree, it's just that their views aren't the most widely known.n: