Hammurabi Vs Civilization

One reason why Hammurabi’s code is unjust is that it doesn’t treat everyone the same. Law 196 states “If a man strikes the daughter of a free man, and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay ten shekels of silver”, while Law 199 states “If he has struck the slave-girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay two shekels of silver. This shows that the code thinks that free people are five times more valuable than slaves. In Document B, he says “that the strong may not injure the weak”. However, in truth, the strong (free men) are injuring the weak(slaves), because if someone wanted to hurt a pregnant women, they would have to pay one-fifth of the money that they would pay if they hurt a free pregnant woman if they hurt a slave-woman.

Hammurabi’s codes were just and sometimes unjust. They would have harsh punishments and sometimes not as harsh punishments. For example, Hammurabi would have harsh punishments like, blinding someone and throwing them in the water, or if someone were to rob some ones house and put a hole through the wall to get in they would whether get killed and pierced or hung in the hole in the wall that they created. Also he would have not as harsh punishments like, giving people money or cutting off their hands. Hammurabi had a lot harsher punishments for woman that did not obey the codes and not as harsh punishments for men that did not obey the laws.

Hammurabi’s code was just because of its personal injury laws. In law 209 it states, “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.” (Doc E). This law is just because the free man is taking care of his daughter by making sure the man pays for what he caused. In law 213 it states, “If he has struck the slave-girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb,

In addition to these laws, Hammurabi’s laws were also gender biased .Laws for women were also unjust, gender biased and based on social classes. Women were not given an individual status according to these laws and also they weren’t allowed to trade and open their own business. Also, they did not have their individual rights. For instance, the law one hundred and twenty eight states that “ If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him”. This law shows that the women were not treated equally and laws were based from the perspective of men and not the women. These laws also shows that how they were unjust to a women and suggest the social condition of them . Another law which states “If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.” This was very wrong as it raised many questions about why only women were required to sacrifice and not men. Also, there was inequality between men and women as only men can choose their wife or perhaps buy her

Hammurabi’s Personal Injury law was unjust because If a man knocked out the eye of a free man, then his eye shall be knocked out. Another reason, If a man strikes the daughter of a free man, and she loses the fruit of her womb, he shall pay 10 shekels of silver. Some people may claim Hammurabi’s code was just but actually it's not just because If a surgeon has operated with a bronze lancet on a free men for a serious injury and caused his death, his hands shall be cut off. This is unjust because the surgeon was suppose to help the free man survive not cut his hands off when he is already dead.

Hammurabi was the sixth king in the First Dynasty of Babylon in the 18th century BCE. He became a first king of the empire of Babylonia when he conquest Sumerian and Akkadians. He was the creator of the Code of Hammurabi that known as one of the earliest surviving codes of law in recorded history.

Hammurabi improved on the measures implemented by Sargon through his idea of “centralization”. Instead of controlling trade routes and resources like Sargon, Hammurabi institutionalized regular taxation for all the territories. Hammurabi also ruled from within Babylon while extending his authority to other territories through the use of deputies placed in each territory. (Bentley and Zeigler, p. 29)

The Mesopotamian laws, in contrast, were hard and unfortunate, which were set by King Hammurabi himself during his long reign of Babylon. In Hammurabi's court, it did not matter if you were rich or poor, if you broke the law, and were found guilty, you would be punished and required to follow the laws and punishments that were clearly written in stone (the code of Hammurabi).

The Mesopotamian people valued a strict, rules-oriented society. This can be seen by examining the Mesopotamian social classes, government and job specialization. In The Code of Hammurabi, created by the King of Babylon in 1780 B.C.E. it was evident that there were rules for every thing, and every thing you do has a consequence. The Mesopotamian life style was very rigid; this lifestyle can lead to disputes and outbreaks, which can have negative consequences in society.

The Law Code of Hammurabi shows how class structures were unfair because it was a stratification hierarchy, which consisted firstly of “the freeborn or nobles, secondly “the freedman/woman” (also known as commoners), then lastly “slaves”. During this primordial time, slavery was legally recognized. The laws were contrasting for each social class, which makes your consequence different because each class held a different level of reputation. The Hammurabi law code states in laws 202-205 that “If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public. If a free born man strike the body of another free born man of equal rank, he shall pay one gold

The law codes of the United States are based on the Ten Commandments and various standards that humanity has conceived throughout history. However, before Moses climbed Mount Sinai and “the Lord descended upon it with fire”, the First Babylonian Empire in ancient Mesopotamia was ruled by Hammurabi, who developed the earliest known law code in world history (Exodus 19:2-25; class discussion, 08/29/17). Hammurabi’s Law Code, as it is known today, could be thought of as an early interpretation of morality. Despite the good moral intentions of the law code, these laws are strict, cruel, and, in some cases, unusual. With over two hundred laws, divine right, the act of revenge, and inequality of punishment between classes took up a large amount of this ancient Babylonian law code.

Around the time of 1792 to 1750 B.C.E., a man by the name of Hammurabi was the ambitious ruler of Babylon. During his reign, he established a compilation of laws that assigned penalties based on retribution, thus creating a list of socially structured regulations centered around the idea that a person who commits a crime must be punished proportionally. Hammurabi’s code is proof of the division amongst the nobles, commoners and slaves in the time period, as well as evidence of the power that the men had over the women.

The governing legal, moral and religious codes of ancient civilizations were written and enforced by a minority that exercised power and authority over the majority. This minority consisted of priests, rulers and elites with established power and influence in society. In these codes of early civilizations, there was an overarching emphasis on maintenance of structure and order in society. Simply put, while these codes reflect the conditions, needs and values of the times in which they were formulated, they also unveil the authors’ agendas to preserve their power by maintaining the status quo. Therefore, these codes acknowledge and uphold the prevailing social, gender and racial inequalities as natural conditions of human existence and reveal the manifold biases present in early civilizations.

King Hammurabi grew up with an extensive knowledge of how to run a political kingdom thanks to taught politics at an early age. He used religion to his advantage and influenced people into thinking that the Gods chose him to rule. In his testimony, he claims, “At that time, to give happiness to the people, Anum and Enlil pronounced my name “Hammurabi,” me, the pious and god- fearing ruler, to decree equity in the land, to eradicate the wicked and the evil so that the powerful might not oppress the powerless, to rise like Shamash and illumine the land for the black-headed (people)” (). A young Hammurabi began his reign in 1792 BCE after the transition of power from his dying father, Sin-Muballit. During his rule, he succeeded his expected goal of expanding the kingdom to conquer all off ancient Mesopotamia. After his successful achievement, he made

In the readings, there are many trends regarding ancient concepts of law, government, and social structure. The code of Hammurabi played a significant role in Mesopotamian law, while the Nile River had a large part in the development of Egyptian civilization. In addition, the Hebrews moved toward pure monotheism and the Persians enhanced the Near Eastern model of monarchical government. “The evidence reveals that on the one hand, peoples then living in the Near East, Africa, and the Mediterranean developed their own distinctive beliefs, mythologies, customs, and sense of identity. On the other they shared many attributes such as large populations, the use of writing, devotion to religion, and economies based on trade and agriculture.” (Lualdi, 15) Overall, each society had similarities and differences in their way of life, but some are key to showing the maturation of the area as a whole.