Hammurabi DBQ

Hammurabi Hammurabi was a man who became a ruler of people: 1,000,000 people! He ruled a place called Babylonia, for 42 years. A god of justice, named Shamash asked Hammurabi if he would write a code of 282 laws on a stele for him. (BGE) Hammurabi did what he was told to do, and that stele can be found in a museum today. Hammurabi’s code: was it just? Hammurabi’s code was not just because of the family law, property law, and personal-injury law.

The family law, in Hammurabi’s code, was unfair because in the law 195 it states, “ If a son struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.” (Doc C) This is not just because, if someone struck their father in common era, they would probably only get grounded. Things back then were a lot harsher that they are now. Why the family law is not

in that year he does not have to pay his creditor.” (Doc D) This is not fair because if the creditor pays the man to plant crops and gets nothing in return. That’s like giving your sibling 10 dollars when they say they will give you money back, but they never end up doing it. If you ask for money or crops, at least give them something in return. The chance of the storm washing away the farmers crops in not a huge chance of it happening.

Personal injury law, in Hammurabi’s code, was not just. It states in law 196, that “ If a man has knocked out the eye of a free man, his eye shall be knocked out.”(Doc E) But then in law 199 it says that, “ If he has knocked out the eye of a slave, he shall pay half his value.” (Doc E) It’s not just to the slave that gets their eye knocked out because they get treated half what the freeman did. Even though the freeman has more freedom than the slave does, the slave should get treated a little better than getting half the value of what he’s