How King Hammurabi's Codes Were Unjust?

If you travel 7000 miles to a new kingdom but once you get there, you walk into someone getting their fingers chopped off, what are you going to do? Back in the days of King Hammurabi, this is very likely to happen to anyone that broke one of this cruel King’s laws. King Hammurabi became the ruler of Babylon, a small city-state in Mesopotamia, in 1792 BCE. Hammurabi took the place of his father, Sin-Muballit, after he died from health problems. Hammurabi claims to have gotten his 282 laws from the god of justice, Shamash. Were Hammurabi’s Laws Just? That is the question we are going to be talking about throughout this essay. I will explain whether or not I think the laws are just. The definition of the word “just” is fair, therefore I will be explaining if I think the laws are fair or unfair. In my opinion, Hammurabi’s laws were unfair to the citizens of the civilization. The laws were very cruel, unnecessary, and very extra. In the following paragraphs, I will explain my reasoning for my thoughts on Hammurabi’s laws.

“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found against the wrong.”(Theodore Roosevelt) To start off let’s talk about Hammurabi, a king not many people knew about. Thanks to clay writing tablets found by archaeologist, we know some things about him. Some things we know about Hammurabi is that he was a king for 42 years! In addition to that he was a king of a city state in Mesopotamia called, Babylon. Something else about Hammurabi is that he took power in 1792 BCE. Hammurabi also developed a code totaling an astonishing 282 laws. My question I need to answer is, Was Hammurabi’s Code Fair? There are three areas of law in Hammurabi’s Code which can be proven to be just. These three areas of law are family law, personal injury law, and property law.

Illustrate in your mind living during the 1750’s B.C.E and living in Babylon. The king and ruler, Hammurabi had multiple laws to rule this society, to make sure the widows and orphans were safe and that the weak were protected from the strong. Hammurabi ruled Babylon for about 32 years. 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? Hammurabi’s code was not just because the personal injury laws did not protect all people equally, property laws were harsh and not protecting people enough, and the Family laws should allow people to be with whoever they want to be with.

The Judgments of Hammurabi are a set of laws that were written by a god. The laws were put in place “to promote the welfare of the people, to cause justice to prevail in the land, and so the strong might not oppress the weak.” The Tale of The Eloquent Peasant, depicts how a peasant has been robbed of his goods and how he eloquently appeals to the king for justice to be served. Both articles discuss; the division of a society’s social class, how gods/kings interpret justice and family relationships within the law.

Have you ever heard the expression, treat others how you want to be treated? Well that's what Hammurabi’s code is all about. Babylonia was ruled by king Hammurabi for 42 years in 1754 BCE. In those years Hammurabi made a set of 282 laws called Hammurabi’s code to create justice and the laws were placed on a steele. Hammurabi's code was just because his purpose was to protect the weak, he made laws about property to protect your house and laws to punish people if they injure 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. Each type of code is meant to bring justice to all the parts of society so that there would be fairness to the accused, fairness to the victim and fairness for society.

How would you feel if you had your hands chopped off? This can happen in Hammurabi’s code. If a son struck his father, his hand would be chopped off. Hammurabi ruled Babylon for 42 years. In the 38th year of his rule, Hammurabi had 282 laws carved on a large pillar like stone called stele. Some laws varied according to whether you were either higher class or lower class, and whether you were a man or a woman. Hammurabi’s Code was not just because the punishments were cruel and some were gruesome. Children were not treated as well as adults, even though his laws were supposed to protect woman and young children.

“Cursed!” is what you'll hear if you decline the written rules of Hammurabi.400 years ago in 1754 Bce. A man named Hammurabi became king of a city called babylonia and made certain rules about family law, property law, and personal injury law and although they were laws, not all laws were fair.

Cutting off a son’s hands if they strike their father - that may seem harsh to us nowadays, but in Hammurabi’s time, this rules united the whole entire empire and maintained order throughout the kingdom. Hammurabi was a powerful ruler of the kingdom of Babylon. He ruled for 42 years and ruled over most of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi became the ruler in 1792 BCE and made many great advancements including: a postal system, an irrigation maintenance system, and most importantly, a code of laws. Hammurabi had a strict code of laws that every citizen of Babylon had to follow. The code of laws were written on a stele and were divided into three parts: the Prologue, Laws, and Epilogue. Hammurabi claimed that the “gods” told him to write these 282

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.

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. Although the code sculpted the culture in 1797 BC, the code would have no chance of surviving in any modern country to this day due to the harsh punishments received from breaking the laws.

Have you ever thought about laws created more than 3,500 years ago by a man known as Hammurabi? Hammurabi was a king of a kingdom known as Babylonia. He ruled nearly 4000 years ago, and ruled 42 years. During his time, Hammurabi carved 282 laws on a stele, which became Hammurabi’s Code. Now we are faced with a question: Was Hammurabi’s Code fair to everyone? There are three are1as of law that show Hammurabi’s Code was just. These are Family Law (Doc C), Property Law(Doc D), and Personal Injury Law(Doc E).

Hammurabi once said, “The first duty of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful.” The weaker a person is, the stronger need of government protection is needed. Hammurabi became king of Babylon in 1792 BCE, he conquered most of southern Mesopotamia and attempted to protect the weak and form law and order. He did this by writing 282 laws in stone and enforcing the laws to the entire kingdom. Hammurabi's code was unjust. Hammurabi's laws that were concerned with family, property, and injury were unfair.

The Code of Hammurabi was written by King Hammurabi and were the first set of laws to ever be created. Hammurabi created 282 laws, that set standards in his empire and in ancient Mesopotamia. Hammurabi made it clear that the laws were not only to equalize society but also establish fairness and also protect the weak from the strong. However, according to the laws, the punishment for men, women, rich, and the poor, were all different; leading that he made the laws unfair. The women of Mesopotamia had a series of laws where it clearly shows they were classified as property. Some laws had harsh punishments and other laws you just had to pay for what you did. Hammurabi clearly showed the opposite of equal among the social classes, by favoring the rich and making it harder for the poor. With the different social classes,

With the help of laws that had punishments like loosing a hand or an eyeball, looking back into Babylonian society was made a lot easier. These laws were created by the king of the city-state Babylon around 1792 BCE, Hammurabi. His reasoning for enforcing the laws, known as Hammurabi’s code, was to protect the weak and those who could not help themselves (doc B). He created 282 laws, and carved them onto a stele, a pillar-like stone. The multiple steles, he created and placed around the kingdom, consisted of a carving of him with Shamash, the god of justice, a prologue, the written laws and an epilogue (doc A). Hammurabi’s code includes laws whose punishments range from death to receiving shekels of silver. Since the repercussions are either very extreme or relatively fair, Hammurabi’s code is both just