King Hammurabi was a leader of the first Babylonian Empire that brought the cities of Mesopotamia together under one law. This law was called Hammurabi’s Code, it was a collection of 282 clauses engraved on a seven foot high stele (Fiero, 26). According to History, Hammurabi worked to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak and to see that justice is done to widows and orphans (History). King Hammurabi created an environment in which everyone tried to live peacefully.
The code of Hammurabi was based on an ideal justice, which include “an-eye-for-an-eye” principal, where punishments were carried out based on the type of crimes committed. According to the book, the code punished fraudulent prosecutions by imposing death penalty. It also relied on “nature-decided justice” where the accused person is being leaped into the river to decide their faith; if they sink they are guilty and if they float they are innocent. According to some code provided in the article, it is clear that there were gender base discrimination; social status discrimination and men had more power than women in the society.
Hammurabi’s Code was unjust to the people of Babylon. For example, starting with the family laws, law number 129 (Document C) said that if a married woman is caught in adultery with another man, they shall both be tied up and thrown in the water to drown. In my opinion, this law is too harsh, they should both go to prison instead.
Hammurabi’s code was created to protect the weak, when in turn the laws did more harm than good. Hammurabi’s code was unjust, because it did not take into consideration of everyone’s story. Also, the victims were not treated equally, because your social class would change the punishment of the crime. Lastly, he made it to where no one could change his laws, even after his death.
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. The Judgments of Hammurabi laid out the rules for Mesopotamian citizens.
Like stated in our book, “Hammurabi’s Code covers a broad spectrum of moral, social, and commercial obligations (pg. 26).” When comparing Hammurabi’s code and todays laws, there are some clear similarities and differences. Although for the most part, both work as a way of punishing a crime.
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
Was Hammurabi’s Code Just? (By Sofia Bradburn) 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.
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.
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. 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
Code of Hammurabi - Source Analysis Assignment Part A1 Women have, often throughout history been viewed as a minority group and the code of Hammurabi has further proven this idea to be concrete with its misogynistic views and treatment of women. Women seem to have been cast into the role of wife and mother and had a few if not any rights at all. The Code of Hammurabi were laws set for the people in Babylonia but most of these “laws” seem more like punishments, especially for the women.
Hammurabi's code is unjust. Hammurabi did try to do what was right by trying to have a community with justice, but the laws are very unequal and harsh. These laws would not last in today's
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).
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...”
Hammurabi 4,000 years ago man named Hammurabi ruled for 42 years he was King of Babylon. He ruled much of 1,000,000 people. In his 38th year of ruler Hammurabi made 282 laws called a code of stele. He did this to bring fairness to all. there has been some debate about the justness of this code In my opinion, hammurabi code was not just because of its family law, property law and personal injury law.
