Hammurabi's Code of Laws
Every country in the world has its own set of ethics, laws, and moral codes. However, in the long span of history, this was not always the case. As ancient civilizations developed, however, they also relied on laws and codes to keep order in the empire.
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the most thorough and best preserved sets of laws from ancient history. It was rediscovered in present-day Iran in 1901, inscribed on a 7-foot-tall stele, or stone slab.
Hammurabi ruled Babylon from 1792-1750 BCE and created the laws to protect his citizens. Before Hammurabi 's Code, individual cases were judged separately and in a disorganized way.
The codes regulated trade, business, and social relationships in Babylon. It also teaches us about Mesopotamian society such as their class divisions and political economic factors.
For its time, Hammurabi’s Code presented a very modern concept. Therefore, it has influenced many sets of laws that have been developed since then. Society today would not be the same if it were not for Hammurabi establishing this set of laws. His code demonstrates the start of an organized society and civilized group of people.
Hammurabi’s Code was written on clay tablets that contained a collection of 282 laws, most famously paraphrased by the expression, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". Most of the laws related to property rights of landowners, merchants, builders, and slave masters.
Some of the laws were brutal and the death penalty was mentioned at least 30 times. Hammurabi’s Code is thought to have established the principle of “innocent-until-proven-guilty."
There were three main classes in Babylonian society (upper, middle, and lower) and the code punished the guilty party based on their class.
Although, there was justice and people got punished for crimes that they committed, punishments were more severe for those of the lower class than the higher class.
Hammurabi’s Code focused more on creating peace than actually on giving people the equality they deserved. Hammurabi’s code expressed the idea that social order was more important than individual rights.
For example, a family’s wealth should be administered by the husband/father. Women, especially widows and divorcees, needed society’s help and the codes sought to provide protection for them. Therefore, there was some equality, but not as much as perhaps there should have been.
While Hammurabi's Code is not the first set of laws (earlier law codes include Urukagina's Code and the Code of Ur-Nammu), its thoroughness, perceived fairness, and respect for the rule of law have made it admired and influential in history.