The objective of this research was to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oil of Hammada articulata obtained by steam distillation and to investigate its antioxidant and anticorrosive activities. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of this oil resulted in the identification of 46 compounds, which accounted for 97.0% of the total oil. The major components found in this oil were hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (11.9%), β-bisabolene (10.7%), eugenol (7.7%) and 2-methyldecalin (5.3%). The DPPH radical scavenging technique was used to assess antioxidant activity. The sample of essential oil presented good antioxidant activity. This oil was tested as a corrosion inhibitor of stainless steel in 0.5 M HCl using weight loss measurements and electrochemical polarization methods. The corrosion rate of stainless steel was decreased in the presence of essential oil. The inhibition efficiency was found to increase with oil concentration to attain 96.68% at 1000 ppm. The adsorption of inhibitor on the stainless steel surface was found to be a spontaneous process and obeys Langmuir's adsorption isotherm.