Hammurabi Achievements

Throughout history there have been many great Kings and Rulers who have influenced their own kingdoms as well as others. One such king was Hammurabi, first king of the Babylonian Empire. He introduced his own code of laws that have impacted on both ancient and modern societies. His other achievements which greatly influenced his time and today include business ownership, astronomy, mathematics and other sciences.

Hammurabi was the first king of what he renamed Babylonia after the Amorites conquered Akkad and made Babylon their capital. Ascending the throne after his father, Sin-muballit, Hammurabi wanted to have his people obey him not just because they had to but because they genuinely supported him as their leader. He ruled during the
The laws were carved into a 2 metre black basalt stela (column) with Hammurabi’s image carved on the top showing him being given the laws by the supreme god, Marduk. He created his own version of old Sumerian laws and implemented many of his own laws to complete his collection. The laws related to everyday life including labour, trade, property, family, criminal and civil law. The punishments varied depending on the severity of the offence and seemed harsh and sometimes cruel because some major offences were punishable by death or removal of some body part from which most would die of anyway. One punishment that is frequently resorted to was being thrown into the water which must have been a serious act back then. Other punishments are based on the principal, “an eye for an eye,” which is shown in the law: “If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.” Hammurabi’s code was important but it could be argued, was not the fairest system. Punishments were decided not only for the severity of the crime but on the rank of the victim or offender. For example: “If a freed man strikes the body of another freed man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina (Babylonian currency),” compared to a slave’s punishment, “If a slave strikes the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.” Although some Hammurabi’s laws have good
Under his guidance Babylon became an illustrious centre for science and education. Babylonia scholars were very accomplished astronomers, mapping the moon and stars across the night sky. They only had knowledge of five planets but they followed them accurately and efficiently. The scholars followed the movements of the planet Venus so well that modern researchers can discover precise dates for events of these early kingdoms by matching their observations with modern astronomy records. These skilled astronomers named many of the constellations which still bear those names. Babylonian mathematicians had a wide range of geometrical skill and even knew quite accurately the value of pi which are both large parts of modern mathematics. Scholars also invented the numbering system based on groups of 60, which is how the 60-minute hour and 360-degree circle that we still use today, were