Hammurabi's Code of Laws

Description of the Laws

• The Code of Hammurabi is an ancient preserved law code created in 1790 B.C in ancient Babylon.

• It was written by the sixth Babylonian king Hammurabi.

• One nearly complete example of the Code is left today, inscribed on a seven foot, four inch tall, in basalt steel, in the Akkadian Language.

Relevant Dates

• Created in 1790 BC• Hammurabi ruled

from 1796 BC to 1750 BC

• The steel containing the Code of Hammurabi was discovered in 1901 by the Egyptologist Gustav Jequier.

Purpose of Creation• First ever written entire body of laws, arranged in orderly

groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them.

• Ex. The witness who testifies falsely is to be killed. Indeed, all the heavier crimes are made punishable with death. Even if a man builds a house badly, and it falls and kills the owner, the builder is to be killed also. If the owner's son was killed, then the builder's son is killed.

• This is where the Hebrews learned their law of "an eye for an eye”.

Importance to the Ancients• Hammurabi's Code of the

ancient Mesopotamian society was important because it set the first written laws in human history.

• The code contained 282 laws written in 12 tablets in the Akkadian language which was common in Babylonia.

• This work is also a great source of information about the society, religion, economy, and history of this period.

• Each part describes in detail a crime or incident, and the punishment/procedure for it.

Importance

For the first time, the notion of a separate judiciary as part of the overall government

This is a hallmark of modern democratic governments the world over.

Sections and Topics•Bearing Witness; Possessions

•Home Protection, Slaves, and Runaways

•Chieftains and Captains (Guidance for Rulers)

•Fields and Gardens

•Money Lenders; Property Managers

•Husbands, Wives, Children, Concubines

•Criminal Behavior

•Professions

•Labor Standards

Major Ideas

•Public Proclamation of Laws

•Punishments Fit the Crime•Equal punishment for crimes (house falling in/eye for an eye)

•Objective Application of the Laws•Very straightforward about who is at fault, and what the punishment will be (more stable and predictable

Major Ideas continued

•Principle of Retaliation•If a man hits a pregnant women, and she loses the baby he will pay ten shekels for her loss; if she dies, his daughter will be put to death

•Social Status•Punishments decided by social class•If a slave is killed he owes the master money

•Proper Performance of Work•Set price for hiring an oxen, cart, and driver