Hammurabi Code Essay

702 Words3 Pages

Why Hammurabi’s code is just

Hammurabi ruled about Babylonia about 40 centuries ago, for about 42 years. The estimated population of Babylonia was about one million people. The size of Babylonia (north to south) was about 400 miles, During the time when Hammurabi ruled he created a set of laws. Written in cuneiform and carved on to the stone stele were his laws. After reading some of the laws I have determined that Hammurabi’s code is in fact just. I will use family,property, and personal injury law to prove it.

Here is why I say Hammurabi's family laws are fair. Law 148 states “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 …show more content…

Law 215 says if a surgeon operates on his patient and the patient survive is is rewarded 10 silver shekels. This makes sense because if you are a doctor and you save a life you will get rewarded. This also encourages surgeons to do their best work.
In this law Hammurabi want to reward the surgeons when they do their job well and save a life. But in law 218 it says if a surgeon operates on a freeman and the man dies then his hands shall be cut off. This seems harsh but for that time the people most likely thought you can't save a patient once you can't save any other patients. This law also encourages surgeons back then to do their absolute best work. So for that law Hammurabi just wants everyone to live and have good surgeons.

The information I gather from Hammurabi's code regarding the family laws, the property laws, and the personal injury laws prove that Hammurabi’s code are just. Using laws 148 and 168 from the category family law helps prove that. In property law section of Hammurabi's code, using laws 23 and 53-54 proves that Hammurabi’s property laws are in fact fair and just. The information I gather from laws 215 and 218 of the personal injury section of Hammurabi's code helps prove that Hammurabi’s laws are fair and just. To reinstate my initial point hammurabi's code is