Hammurabi's Code: Just or Unjust?
Mesopotamia, “the Land between Rivers,” was one of the greatest and the oldest ancient civilizations of the world. This civilization flourished around 3000 B.C. on the piece of fertile land, now known as Iraq, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Before 1792 B.C., the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia were not united and constantly clashed in turmoil and warfare. In 1792 B.C., King Hammurabi conquered and merged the neighboring city states of ancient Mesopotamia, creating a Babylonian empire and becoming the sixth king of its capitol city, Babylon. During his reign, Hammurabi established law and order and funded irrigation, defense, and religious projects. He personally took care of and governed the administration. In fact, in 1786, he wrote two hundred eighty-two laws governing family, criminal punishment, civil law, ethics, business, prices, trade, and every other aspect of ancient life—this set of laws became known as “the Code of Hammurabi.” Carved upon a black stone eight feet high where everyone could read them, this Code was an improvement from previous lawless dynasties. However, these laws—compared to some other ancient laws such as the Mosaic Law and Roman Justinian Code—were unfair, unjust, and based on the social classes.
Hammurabi’s laws were based on the harsh “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” mentality of the ancient era, requiring a death penalty for many slight offenses. For example, according to the twenty-first law in Hammurabi’s code, “if any one breaks a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried” (citation). In accordance to this law, anyone who tried—it did not matter if he actually did—to steal and was caught would be sentenced to death instantly. In fact, the Code further stated that even people who were discovered merely buying items from a robber would also be sentenced to death. This was not fair because if the robber is found but
Hammurabi’s laws were based on the harsh “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” mentality of the ancient era, requiring a death penalty for many slight offenses. For example, according to the twenty-first law in Hammurabi’s code, “if any one breaks a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried” (citation). In accordance to this law, anyone who tried—it did not matter if he actually did—to steal and was caught would be sentenced to death instantly. In fact, the Code further stated that even people who were discovered merely buying items from a robber would also be sentenced to death. This was not fair because if the robber is found but
Bibliography: Hues man, J.B. “Hammurabi(Hammurapi),King of Babylon.” The Catholic Encyclopedia 6.2 (2003): 631, Gale. Web. 1 April. 2009. Souvay, Charles “The Catholic Encyclopedia” New York: Robert Appleton Company 7 (1910): n.page Web. 19 March. 2009. Tamera, Bryant the Life and Times of Hammurabi. Bear: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2005. Print. Ungnad, Arthur “The Code of Hammurabi” The International standard bible encyclopedia James Orr 2 (1939): 1327-1332. Web. 2 April. 2009. Van De Mieroop, Marc. King Hammurabi of Babylon: a biography Boston: Blackwell Pub, 2004. Print.