Pros And Cons Of Hammurabi Code Of Laws

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.

However, the most important influence on the American legal system is Hammurabi’s code, because it is an extremely useful source for discussions of Mesopotamian government and society is the Babylonian document Hammurabi’s Code (approximately 1780 BCE). One of the most influential codifications of law in ancient history, the text provides people with a concrete example of the expanding influence of centralized government on the personal and professional lives of the general population. It also gives people a clear sense of the ways ancient Babylonians invested godly authority in their worldly

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,

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...” From this, historians can observe a recurrence of the law of retaliation; a major belief in both societies. Furthermore,

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.

The third code is family law. In law 195 it says, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.” The son should be punished however, cutting off his hands is very extreme. There is no age listed in this law and what if it was a child? In law 129 it also shows that the laws were unjust. Another reason is “If a married lady is caught [in adultery] with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into water.” This is also a very harsh punishment. The last law is law 148. The last reason is, “If a man has married a wife and a disease has seized her, if he is determined to marry a second wife, he shall marry her. He shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seized. She shall dwell in the house they have built together, and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.” This is unjust because you should not leave your sick wife alone and marry another woman. Many people think king Hammurabi’s laws were just, but they were not just because of that evidence. Justice is not absolute in this because people worked hard to make a marriage,

Some of Hammurabi’s codes were fair and others were not fair. The first law is Family Law and it states that If a son has struck his father, his hands shall

Hammurabi’s law code was the first of its kind that we base our legal system off of today. Hammurabi’s Code

Laws were as important in Hammurabi 's time as they are today because laws keep people safe and keeps everything fair. Hammurabi was a famous Babylonian king who ruled over Mesopotamia. He created the first set of written laws in his 38th year of his reign called the law code. He did this because he wanted to keep peace and order over Mesopotamia even if the laws were harsh. Many people are arguing over if Hammurabi 's code is just or unjust. After close analysis, the law code of Hammurabi was just in the area of property law.

For example law 148 in Hammurabi's code it says,”if a man has married a wife with a disease has seized her,he is determined to marry a second wife he shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seised .she shall dwell in the house they have built together and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.”this proves that not all of hammurabi's laws were unfair,maintaining a wife for as LONG as she lives with a horrible disease will keep the ill wife happy as long as she lives. Furthermore,this law is fair because it shows that marriage is a life time

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.

In conclusion, Hammurabi 's code is unjust. The evidence shows that the Personal Injury Laws didn’t protect all people equally, the Property Laws punishments were too harsh, and the Family Laws can cause someone 's death. Most of Hammurabi’s laws are not just to the people or society of Babylon. Now, picture in your mind, living in Babylon with Hammurabi as your ruler. Wasn’t as good as you

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.

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