Hammurabi's Parody: Differences Between Husband And Wife

At the time, it was cruel to give harsh punishments to the accused if he/she cause a minor problem and they don’t do anything to help the victim. The property laws are unnecessary to the accused and even if the accused did something on accident, they still maybe end up killing him/her. The personal injury laws don’t even help because the laws punishments are basically killing the accused or chopping off a body part. In that time, the people thought that these laws were fair, But all in all, this is why the laws in Hammurabi’s code were unjust to not only the victim and the accused, but to society as

Dowries are extremely important to consider when it comes to arranged marriages. A dowry is a gift that could be goods, money, or land that a bride’s family will give to the groom to marry the bride. Dowries could be used to bring two powerful families together by having their children marry, for example, royal arranged marriages. In the Biblical sense, a girl who is still a virgin is more of prize than one who is not. In a way dowries make the daughter or son feel as property as told by Sara Smolinsky, “to [my father] I was nothing but his last unmarried daughter to be bought and sold” (205). Mr. Smolinsky stated, “It’s not enough to take my Bessie without a dowry. You must pay me yet” (47). Mr. Smolinsky, being the stubborn man he is, decided when Berel Bernstein asked for Bessie’s hand in marriage without the need of a dowry, that Mr. Smolinsky should get a bride price as well. A bride price

In law 129 it states, “If a married lady is caught (in adultery) with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water.” (Doc C). This law will be just because in their time this punishment was fair and people shouldn’t disobey the law if they know the consequences. Law 148 states, “If a man has married a wife and a disease has seized her, if he is determined to marry a second wife, he shall marry her. He shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seized. She shall dwell in the house they have built together, and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.” (Doc C). This was just because he was still married to her so she should have someone to take care of her. Also, Hammurabi states that “the strong might not injure the weak” so he needs to protect and take care of her (Doc B). When people still abided by these rules they were just so these laws were very much

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

* The Hammurabi code is definitely patriarchal. Most laws in the “Marriage and the family” section starts with an excerpt of “If a man”. This supposes that it is the males who are considered first. The Hammurabi code supports the patriarchal characteristic of Mesopotamian society. Additionally, a property law states

“If a man violate the wife of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father’s house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless” (Hammurabi).

To begin with, the family laws in Hammurabi’s code are usually pretty unfair in the way they handle family disputes. One example of this is shown in Law 195 when the Code states, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off”(Document C). This is unfair because it treats the son as lesser than the father since he gets a worse punishment than the original offense. Which shows that this law is an unbalanced punishment for the offense. Another example of an unfair law pertaining to family manners is when law 168 states, “If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge, “‘I cut off my son,’ the judge shall inquire into the son’s past, and, if the son has not committed a grave misdemeanor…, the father shall not disinherit his son”(Document C). This shows how a law can take something that should be decided by an individual, but instead is taken into a decision by the

Throughout Hammurabi's Code, it is made clear that the ancient Near East had a patriarchal system in which laws were needed to be put in place to grant protection to women from abuse. Laws placed restrictions on women's dowries and the manner in which divorce could occur. The state, therefore, recognized that women needed certain legal protections from male authority. Unfortunately, while such legal protections are granted, women are constantly addressed as a piece of property similar to slaves. Therefore, there are a few major issues in Hammurabi's Code that demonstrate how the individual rights of women took a back seat to social order and stratification in the ancient Near East. It was believed that a woman's sexuality should be

The Code of Hammurabi was a strict, harsh, and unequal way of punishment that focused on current attainable penalties for Mesopotamian society. The society wasn’t religious, they did not have any affiliations with spiritual beings, which is why punishments were needed for the specific moment

The Law Code of Hammurabi is a native Babylonian text that served as the basic law code of society. The way of life was of the former Babylonians culture is totally different than what we are used to today. The text gives readers a vision of how ancient societies lived in these times. This law code gave society a diverse arrangement for citizens to follow. The social structure isn’t about wealth, they are judged by different standards (such as trial by ordeal). The husband is the dominant role of the house. The family structure is a patriarchal household and the power of the father is absolute. The Law Code of Hammurabi gives readers a clear thought of how unfair the earlier civilization of Babylonians existed through class structures, gender relations, and family structures.

Law 148 of Hammurabi’s Code states, “If a man has married a wife and a

Throughout the Code, a man was always present in each law. Women were presented as property as "the wife of a man". Women in Babylonian times had little to no rights. Her past was examined, if she had said to her husband, "Thou shalt not have me". Whereas, men had the option to "not take thy daughter" of his father-in-law if he chose to. Therefore, suggesting that women could not select who they choose to marry. The Code also discusses the harsher punishments women received in Babylonian times. For example, "if the wife of a man be taken in lying with another man", she was tossed into the water along with her lover. While men who had not had children with his wife, were allowed to "take a concubine" and have extramarital relationships. This suggests the rights men had in Babylonian

Ill bound you with him and throw you in the water. Hammurabi's code is unjust. Unjust means not fair. I have some facts for you to backup my theory. If married women is caught in adultery with another man they shall be binded together and thrown into the water to die together. This states if a married woman is caught with another man “Hanging out” then they are going to die together. I believe this is unjust because today people do that and don't die because they hang out. More reasons are in the next paragraphs.

Hammurabi’s code made matters worse by acting instead of trying to help the family’s problems. For example, in Law one hundred twenty-nine, if a woman was caught in adultery with another man they will just drown them both. In addition, Law one hundred ninety -five, if a son has struck his father his hands shall be cut off. Based on what i read, Law one hundred twenty-nine is not fair because they do not try to help the family instead they come up with the solution of killing the wife. This shows that in Law one hundred ninety-five the sun will have his hands cut off when they could havejust tried to help the son not be mad at the father or want to hit him. As you can see these laws are not fair and are a bit too jumpy.

Under this strict system, Renaissance marriage became a "system of fair market exchange" (Matchinske 156). The husband was expected to provide economically for his wife. In turn, the wife was obligated to render herself, her chastity, her silence, and her obedience unto her husband. Because of this system of exchange, "marriages of interest became the target of severe censure at the beginning of the century as a form of legalized prostitution" (Massai 71). Fathers exchanged their daughter's virginity for family connections, sons promised security in order to win a wife, and women were transferred from one lord to another.