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How Did The Code Of Hammurabi Influence Ancient Mesopotamian Society

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In approximately 1790 years before the common era (B.C.E) the king of Babylon, Hammurabi, conquered much of Mesopotamia bringing the vast area under his empire. Hammurabi's persistence on the idea that everyone under his control know their laws, or legal principles along with the repercussions of breaking these entrenched rules and regularities led to the establishment of the now famed Hammurabi’s code, which is a set of laws and regulations that states what people should do in a variety of uncomfortable circumstances and a set of repercussions for the associated wrong actions. This code not only establishes regularities that should be exercised in circumstances relating to criminal law but also provides acute detail on matters relating …show more content…

This society Overall the Code of Hammurabi establishes a perspective on aspects of ancient Babylonian society in areas such as class structure, the expectations of society, and family matters.

Throughout the Code of Hammurabi a viewpoint on class structure within Hammurabi's society is established. Within the code there is a multitude of various perspectives on classes portrayed through its laws, and it can be deducted that there was a first class, a second class, and a third class within Hammurabi's society. These classes within the code were differentiated by job and gender. The first class was mostly made up people holding positions in government and/or religion, the two being very common associates, people of the first class often times were believed to have direct communication with the gods, this skill automatically put them in a position of power, because the gods were believed to control many aspects of life such as weather. Governmental officers were believed to have direct communication with the gods, this being what gave them the authority and power over the civilization. While first class citizens were believed to have the the most important positions second class citizens also held positions of importance to the society, such as construction workers or physicians, trade jobs which were considered

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