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Analysis Of The Judgements Of Hammurabi

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The Human Record’s “The Judgements of Hammurabi” is a primary source that demonstrates Hammurabi’s code for Babylonian society on many issues, including property, marriage, and personal injury. Hammurabi starts the prologue explaining that Marduk, chief god of Babylon, allowed him to become “governor of men” and establish justice for the people. This lets the reader know that Hammurabi was the leader and why he created the laws that he did. Hammurabi’s code allowed for Babylonian justice to be based on the social status of the individuals within the society, which tells us that the people in this society were not treated equally. As Hammurabi united Mesopotamia by conquering other empires and transforming cities into the society he wanted, he realized there had to be an all-inclusive set of laws for all people to follow. This had to happen if he wanted his empire to last forever no matter how diverse it became. Hammurabi’s code covers a wide range of circumstances and each outcome depended on the individual and their case. Some of the circumstances are property, debt slavery, marriage and family, and justice cases. Each section goes into detail as to what each case is about and what the outcome will be. Though Hammurabi includes punishments in his laws for the wealthy, the lower-class, the slaves, the women, and the children none were created or viewed equal in the terms of the law. This is shown in Hammurabi’s code 196, “If a man has destroyed the eye of another free

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