Laws Of The Stone Stele Were They Just Dbq Hammurabi

Laws of the Stone Stele: Were They Just? (No)

The idea of justice 4,000 years ago was much different than today’s; justice is not absolute. Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man named Hammurabi became king of Babylonia. In the 38th year of his 42 year rule, he created a set of 282 laws called Hammurabi’s code. Hammurabi’s code was erected onto several steles (large pillars of stone) for all his citizens to read and obey. Was Hammurabi’s code just? There are three areas of law where Hammurabi’s code can be shown to be unjust. These are family, property, and personal injury law. Examples of injustice can be found in the area of family law. One example is Law 129 in Document C, “If a married lady is caught [in adultery] with another man, they shall bind them and cast them in the water. Another piece of evidence is that the law only addresses married women, not married men. This

Law 209 states that if a man strikes the daughter of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb; he shall pay 10 shekels of silver… Law 213 says that if he has struck the slave-girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb; he shall pay 2 shekels of silver. Law 209 and 213 can be justified to be wrongful, since they are the same offense, and, as in the case of Laws 196 and 199, the same crimes should have the same punishment. The fact that you have to pay much less when you cause a miscarriage in a slave girl than when you cause a miscarriage in a free woman is unjust, as it is the same crime, and just because the victim is of a different social class, like in the case of Law 196 and 199, it is not fair, but showing favoritism to the upper social class. Also, the punishment is too light. Causing a woman to have a miscarriage is a very serious offense, and paying only 10 shekels of silver at the most is not a harsh enough