The Code Of Hammurabi
Created to provide civil order, the Codified law refers to the rules and regulations that have been collected, restated, and written down for a society. One of the earliest and perhaps the most complete account of codified law dates back to 1700BCE. The Code of Hammurabi was a set of laws created by the Babylonian King in late 1754BCE. This code was extremely detailed for the time with a punishment assigned to each particular offense. After inheriting power from his father, Sin-Muballit, Hammurabi took on a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and the expanding of temples. This military leader improved each city-state under his rule by promoting the building of projects, trade, and keeping
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Laws covered such topics as adoption, marriage, divorce, stealing, slaves, murder, military service, land, business, prices, loans, and wages. All walks of life seemed to be covered and no area was overlooked. Laws before the Code of Hammurabi were often unfair and complicated. Hammurabi clearly stated laws and set standard of punishments. These laws explained that whoever caused an injury should be punished with that same injury, following the same idea as the expression “an eye for an eye”. Some laws outlined on the other hand had specific fines for crimes. Others imposed a penalty of death. The code surviving today has been inscribed in an eight-foot-tall stele made of gleaming black basalt located originally in a central marketplace and has an image of Hammurabi conferring with the God of Justice. Babylonian society was divided as the code indicates that an offense to a nobleman carries severe punishment and penalty than those committed to a social equal or slave, however, nobles were punished severely worse if they had committed a crime towards another nobleman than were commoners. Potentially new protections and rights for women included, divorcing an abusive husband and if a husband divorced his wife without reason than he must financially support her and their children, though they still referred to women as property and gave them less individual rights than men. If a woman defamed her spouse, the risk of death to her and her lover were possible if she were caught in adultery. Men who defamed their wives, in contrast, were protected under law. Men had no obligation to children if they did not wish to claim
Laws covered such topics as adoption, marriage, divorce, stealing, slaves, murder, military service, land, business, prices, loans, and wages. All walks of life seemed to be covered and no area was overlooked. Laws before the Code of Hammurabi were often unfair and complicated. Hammurabi clearly stated laws and set standard of punishments. These laws explained that whoever caused an injury should be punished with that same injury, following the same idea as the expression “an eye for an eye”. Some laws outlined on the other hand had specific fines for crimes. Others imposed a penalty of death. The code surviving today has been inscribed in an eight-foot-tall stele made of gleaming black basalt located originally in a central marketplace and has an image of Hammurabi conferring with the God of Justice. Babylonian society was divided as the code indicates that an offense to a nobleman carries severe punishment and penalty than those committed to a social equal or slave, however, nobles were punished severely worse if they had committed a crime towards another nobleman than were commoners. Potentially new protections and rights for women included, divorcing an abusive husband and if a husband divorced his wife without reason than he must financially support her and their children, though they still referred to women as property and gave them less individual rights than men. If a woman defamed her spouse, the risk of death to her and her lover were possible if she were caught in adultery. Men who defamed their wives, in contrast, were protected under law. Men had no obligation to children if they did not wish to claim