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The Code of Hammurabi

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The Code of Hammurabi
In Mesopotamia, around 1750 B.C. citizens followed a stern law code called The Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi, a powerful conqueror of 1792-1750 BCE, created these laws in the hopes of promoting justice through them. He wanted to “promote the welfare of the people” and “to cause justice and destroy the wicked and the evil” (pg. 13) This law code shows that in early Babylonian society, they thought the best punishment was an “eye for an eye”. By setting such law codes, they made the punishment so harsh that the person who committed the crime would never think of committing it again. Some people read the Code of Hammurabi and do not agree with it because of the penalties of some crimes. The Code of Hammurabi is set to keep the Babylonian society safe, and in my strong opinion, is not too harsh for the citizens in the society. By setting The Code of Hammurabi, the Babylon society was searching to create the perfect society of their time.

What is “the perfect society”? A couple of the things that would pop into your mind when thinking of this would be no violence, a lot of love and total happiness. Love and happiness come in marriage. When trying to make the perfect society, you have to think about the problems that come from marriage. Divorce, cheating on your spouse and abuse are a couple of problems that almost always come from marriages. Number 129 in the Code of Hammurabi states a major penalty if someone were to cheat on their spouse. If a wife of a man has been caught lying with another man, they shall bind them and throw them into the waters. This law is to ensure that people in the society will be scared of the punishment, and won’t even consider breaking this law. The Babylonian’s society wanted to keep this order and control. They want the society to be happy without having to set boundaries. If you read The Code of Hammurabi in this point of view, you will understand that “an eye for an eye” type of law system is the only way to live and be safe and happy living in any environment. The Babylonian society hopes to prevent any and all problems from reoccurring, and make living there as simple and easy as possible by setting boundaries and rules that Hammurabi has made. Hammurabi’s law code provided happiness to the Babylonian society as freedom is supposed to provide happiness for us today.

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