Hammurabi Dbq Essay

“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found against the wrong” (Theodore Roosevelt). To start off let’s talk about Hammurabi, a king not many people knew about. Thanks to clay writing tablets found by archaeologist, we know some things about him. Some things we know about Hammurabi is that he was a king for 42 years! In addition to that he was a king of a city-state in Mesopotamia called Babylon. Something else about Hammurabi is that he took power in 1792 BCE. Hammurabi also developed a code consisting of an astonishing 282 laws. My paper will answer the question, “Was Hammurabi’s Code fair?” There are three areas of law in Hammurabi’s Code which can be proven to be just. These three areas of law are family law, personal injury law, and property law.
This takes us to our first area of law, family law. Examples of justice can be first found in family law. If you take a look at document c, law 168, which reads, “If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge, “I cut off my son,” the judge shall inquire
First is law 23 in document d. This law states, “If the robber is not caught, the man who has been robbed shall formally declare what he has lost before a god, and the city, and the mayor in whose territory or district the robbery has been committed shall replace for him whatever has been lost.” I believe this law is just because a mayor should show pride in their city, territory, or district and give back to citizens in which their duties have failed. This brings us to law 53, 54 in document d. The code reads, “If a man has opened his trench for irrigation and the waters have flooded his neighbor’s field, the man must restore the crops he has caused to be lost.” This law is definitely fair because it has a very simple concept, what you ruin or cause to be lost you replace or pay