Essay On Hammurabi's Laws

The Babylonian people’s laws focused upon their society, economy and religion because they had strong morals that influenced their decisions surrounding these three things. These three aspects of the Babylonian Civilization seemed to not only be things that shaped the Babylonian laws, but also their culture. Successful farming, being high up on the social pyramid, and following the religion of the group were things that enhanced a person’s life and in the end may have determined their survival. Hammurabi used the concept of religion to reinforce his power. The text says, “Then Anu and Bel [gods] called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land…” (Doc. A). The Babylonian people
We have laws that are in place to protect against others mistakes nowadays as well. Hammurabi’s code was written over 3,000 years ago. The reason that the Babylonian people needed to be intent about the amount of grains that they collected was because they didn’t have anywhere near as advanced technology to protect their crops as we do nowadays which means that losing a crop was a bigger problem then than it would be now. The social pyramid in the Babylonian culture decided what your life would be like. In the social pyramid, men with more money were the top of the social pyramid while slaves and women were thought of as less. The laws pertaining to the society reflect this clearly. Law 138 states, “If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the dowry which she brought from her father’s house and let her go” (Doc. C). This suggests that the man is in control of the marriage between him and his wife and the man has the power over the wife. Law 199 pertaining to the treatment of slaves states, “If he put out the eye of a man’s slave, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half its value” (Doc