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Code Of Hammurabi Essay

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Historical Analysis #1: The Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi was the first complete, coherent legal code known to man. While there were other earlier parts of legal codes discovered, it was the Code of Hammurabi that was fully complete. It enabled Babylonian society to be regulated under a strict code with harsh punishments and applied to all members of the society in a varied form. The code provided specific laws to be followed and punishments to be carried out on those who broke the aforementioned laws. The Code of Hammurabi may have been one of the earliest, but was certainly not without its faults. The laws were often times not just, and could be taken advantage of in order to further one’s personal goals. Hammurabi’s code of laws was unjust because the legal system it allowed could be easily taken advantage of. …show more content…

Sending an innocent man to death is far from being just, however the law allowed for it to happen. While faulty accusations could also mean death for the accuser, the accuser wouldn’t have to worry about being killed if he had enough testimonies supporting him. The fact that one person could potentially have the power to have anyone killed legally through exploitation of the law is neither fair nor just and is certainly not something becoming of an advanced legal system that would be present in the modern world. The punishment of breaking any law varied from person to person based on wealth and rank in the social hierarchy. If a rich, upper-class man and a poor, low-class man committed the same crime, depending on the crime it would’ve been likely that the low ranking member of the society would be put to death, while the high ranking member would only have to pay a fine. The laws applied to all members of the community but the punishments were not the same. A legal system cannot possibly be just if it is possible for some violators to be killed or maimed while others only need to pay

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