Most laws are suppose to be fair but not Hammurabi's laws. People had to follow 282 unjust laws and if they did not follow them they had to serve a harsh punishment. About 4,000 years ago a king by the name of Hammurabi ruled the land of Babylon. He created 282 laws so that everyone in the city state could be equal, but maybe they were just then, but are they just now? Was Hammurabi's code of laws fair to all people? Hammurabi created 282 unjust laws based on personal injury law, property law, and family law.
His first law was the personal injury law. It may seem as if Hammurabi's code of personal injury law was just but actually it is not. In law 196 document E it states that, ¨ If a man has knocked out the eye of a free man, his eye shall be knocked out.¨ Another example is in law 209 document E, ¨ If a man strikes the daughter of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay 10 shekels.¨ Some people may claim that Hammurabi's code of personal injury law was just, but actually it was not just. For
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In law 195 document C it claims that, ¨ If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.¨ Going on, law 129 document C states that, ”If a married lady is caught [ in adultery ] with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water. ¨ It would be easy to believe that Hammurabi's code of family law is just but actually it is not just. Law 129 is unjust because if a married lady cheats on her husband she gets thrown into the water but, if a man cheats nothing happens. This shows that back then men and women did not have equal rights. Lastly law 195 is unjust because the son does not get a warning if he hits his dad he just has to know not to do that and that is unjust because little kids do not know better. To wrap it up Hammurabi's code of family law is
Hammurabi’s Code DBQ King Hammurabi’s rule began in the city of Babylon. He later then extended his control by taking over Larsa and Mari a large part of Mesopotamia. After expanding his land, Shamash, the god of justice presented him with a code of 232 laws (Doc A). These laws were then influenced throughout the community and were considered a part of the communities culture. I disagree with Hammurabi’s code because most laws were to cruel and targeted certain people.
The first reason that Hammurabi’s Code of law is unjust is the Personal Injury Law. In document E, law number 218 stated that if a surgeon operated with a bronze lancet on a free man for a serious injury and the man dies, his hands will be cut off. Also in law numbers 209 and 213 they stated that a if a man has struck a free women and the fruit of her womb is lost he pays 10 shekels of silver but if the man hit’s a slave women and she loses her froot of the womb the man only has to pay 2 shekels of silver. It might seem if the personal injury laws are absolutely just but they are really not because in law 218 the surgeon hands are cut of if he fails to save the man and in laws 213 and 209 the free women gets more shekels of silver then the slave women and also if the man hits the women and the fruit of her womb in not lost the man
He wrote laws using the writing system, Cuneiform. Some of these laws were harsh. Maybe too harsh. Were these laws just? Was Hammurabi’s code just?
There are three areas of law where Hammurabi’s Code can be shown as just: property laws, family laws, and personal injury laws. First, there is the justness of property laws. The code states, “If a seignior committed robbery and has been caught, that seignior shall be put to death. ”(Code of Hammurabi 1). When a seignior chooses to rob another individual, that seignior has ultimately made the decision to take another’s property without the intention of returning it.
In law 48 it states that if a man loans money to someone for crops and a storm comes and ruins them, the person that borrowed the money doesn’t have to pay it back for another year. This is fair because the loaner is taking the chance, knowing that something may happen, and that’s his decision. In Law 53 and 54 it states that if a man opens his trench to water his crops and floods the neighbors crops on accident, he must replace all the crops he has destroyed. This is fair because he destroyed the crops and the other farmer may have been depending on those crops to feed his family. Hammurabi’s Property Laws were fair much like his Personal-Injury
The Document “The Law Code of Hammurabi” we are given a reading of a list of what laws were for Mesopotamians. The document informs us, the readers, know the two hundred and two seven written laws are consider as the most informative about life in Mesopotamia in regards of justice and social regulation concepts. According to the document The Law Code of Hammurabi basic principles of justice, punishment and compensation in Ancient Mesopotamia don’t act appropriate are most likely lead to be killed if they cannot prove their innocents. One example of how they handle common crimes is the first law “if a man accuses another man and charges him with homicide but cannot bring proof against him, his accuser shall be killed” (25). Not only can someone accuse you
Was Hammurabi’s code just? Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man named Hammurabi became king of a city state called babylon. Hammurabi made a very important code in 18th century B.C.E. Hammurabi made 282 laws and he made these codes to protect the weak and poor from the strong. There are areas of law where Hammurabi’s code can be shown to be both, just and unjust. These are Family Law, Property Law, and Personal Injury Law.
Hammurabi’s code was it just? Hammurabi code was just because of Family Law, Property Law, Personal Injury Law. family Law in Hammurabi’s code were just. If a married lady was caught in adultery with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water.” “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off” (Doc C).
Hammurabi's code and the modern laws have several similarities and differences. For example, they are both intended to maintain order in society. However, Hammurabi’s code is far more violent than modern law. Also, they have different ways of handling things, different punishments, and different social structure. One way that Hammurabi’s Code and the Modern Laws are different is because Hammurabi’s Code is strictly based on social structure.
Hammurabi's Code is unjust for a number of reasons, starting with how overly-harsh the punishments were. Next, how many rules there were with such strict and unreasonable punishments, keeping up with following 282 rules can be very pressuring. First, how un-called for his punishments were. For example, reworded from law 218, when a doctor performed an unsuccessful surgery on a man, he could have got his hands cut off for punishment. This punishment and the majority of the rest in Hammurabi's Code is very unfair and cruel.
Laws are always the core of a society and they often indicate a variety of lifestyle decisions made by those people. Hammurabi’s famous set of laws and Moses’ laws could be viewed as two completely distinct documents, yet both set of laws aide historians in revealing insight to the Hebrew and Mesopotamian people. In both societies, enforcing strict consequences that are equivalent to the crime is common. Hammurabi’s well known law states that, “if a man has put out an eye of a free man, they shall put out his eye.” Whereas, in the Hebrew laws, it states, “...if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye...”
These laws should both have the same consequences because all women should be treated equal. These laws on injury show that Hammurabi's code is very unjust. Hammurabi’s code may have been written to protect everyone, but the laws ended up being excessive and harmful. The laws about family, property, and injury are cruelly excessive and are unequal towards different classes.
Funk and Wagnall New World Encyclopedia wrote, “The basis of criminal law is that of equal retaliation, comparable to the Semitic law of ‘an eye for an eye’”(“Hammurabi, Code of” 1). Hammurabi was the first to make the law code meaning he was the first to start the foundation for our law system today. He was the father of law and today his justice code is still apparent today. The code of Hammurabi was designed to protect the weak, which includes: women, children and slaves. Funk and Wagnall wrote, “It seeks to protect the weak and the poor, including women, children, and slaves, against injustice at the hands of the rich and powerful”(Hammurabi, Code of” 1).
King Hammurabi’s codes were unjust because of the evidence found in the 282 laws. The codes that King Hammurabi wrote about were personal injury law, property law and family law. First, there is evidence that the codes were unjust. The first, code was personal injury law.
Law 195 is unjust because the consequence of striking your father father is getting decapitated, and again this is unjust because it could have possibly been an act of self-defense. Overall Hammurabi’s Code were inhumane because it had violent punishments for nonviolent crimes, and it treated the people of Babylonia differently because of their socioeconomic