What Does The Law Code Of Hammurabi Mean

The Law Code of Hammurabi was written by the Mesopotamian ruler Hammurabi around 1755 BCE. This passage was carved on a large stone monolith so that all of his subjects could see it. This pillar was rediscovered in 1901 and now resides in the Louvre Museum in France. Hammurabi was the sixth and most well-known king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. He is well known because of these law codes and how he brought Mesopotamia under a single rule. In the selected excerpt from The Law Code of Hammurabi, the main focus of the text is the laws that Hammurabi lays forth for his subjects. Before he lays out the laws, there is a prologue where Hammurabi explains that he venerates the gods and that his purpose in his rule is to support the well-being

This is very important to note because many ancient rulers portrayed themselves as gods themselves, but Hammurabi chooses not to. This shows that his tactic to gain respect was not through fear but through a sense of relatability with the common man (his subjects). As humans, we innately have more trust in those who have confidence in themselves but don’t have an inflated ego. This principle is shown in Hammurabi. He is very sure of his abilities as a ruler but doesn’t elevate himself more than is

All except one of the laws in this excerpt are about marriage and women’s rights. When it came to decisions regarding marriages and engagements, all aspects depended on either the young woman’s father or the man she would be married to. This shows that the society Hammurabi ruled was a patriarchal one. It also shows us that society has favored men’s rights over women’s since the beginning of civilization, so it makes sense that even in modern times, gender rights are not yet completely