Ancient Civilizations: The Code Of Hammurabi

2000 BCE was a major turning point in most societies as civilizations started to unify. As these civilizations grew, law codes were commonly introduced by their leaders. Politically law codes determined punishments and helped provide a base for the government. They affected economies by regulating trade, introducing currency, and enforcing taxes. There was also a distinct separation of gender and social status outlined in the law codes. The law codes of each society help reflect their core values and show many similarities as well as differences. A political basis was defined in the law codes around 2000 BCE. The Code of Hammurabi is a strong example with its underlying theme of “Lex Talionis.” The Ten Commandments, on the other hand, did not have any punishments defined inside the text. Hammurabi wanted strict punishments so that citizens were scared out of committing wrongdoing, whereas the Ten Commandments were written simply so they could be interpreted by everyone and the punishment

The code of Nesilim defines set prices for goods and services from hiring teachers to the cost of a bull. This shows an economic involvement which was vastly different from codes like the Ten Commandments where economics was left out in order to provide a general, simple set of guidelines. Currency was very powerful and desired especially in compensatory systems where consequences for crimes could be paid off in shekels instead of physical punishment (Ur-Nammu). The code of Nesilim also used shekels as the currency for its compensatory consequences. Lastly, some codes did not have much involvement with the economy such as Hammurabi’s code and the Ten Commandments. Hammurabi’s code was much more focused on retaliatory punishments instead of economic fidelity, and the Ten Commandments stayed general enough and easily memorable by shying away from economic