The Death Of A Man

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 seemed to have boasted a lot in his own abilities. He seemed to have created a perception that he was the upper class of humanity. For example, he states, “My words are well considered; there is no wisdom like unto mine” (“The Code of Hammurabi”). This

In current times in America, the role of women and the role of men is about equal. When it comes to home life, it’s just as common for women to go out and work as it is for a man to do it. Women have even run for President. However, in the Harappan society in ancient India, and in Sumerian times in ancient Mesopotamia, the equality and respect of women weren’t as strong as it is today. Regardless, women were respected to a certain level. Overall, the respect of women in ancient India was similar to the respect of women in Mesopotamia because goddesses were seen as powerful, young women were admired, and women were highly regarded for being able to give birth.

A life for a life. King Hammurabi became the ruler of Babylon in 1792. Hammurabi had created 292 laws. He had a total of 3,500 lines of writing, covering both sides of the steele. I am going to be discussing, Is hammurabi's code just? Before we answer the question I will tell you what “just” means. Just simply means “fair”. I believe that hammurabi’s code was just. In this essay, I will be discussing hammurabi’s code being just. I will be giving reasons for hammurabi’s code being just.

* Hammurabi produced the law codes called “Code of Hammurabi” in order to acquire order and welfare. As Hammurabi state in his prologue, “Right and Justice I established in the land, for the good of the people.” (prologue, Hammurabi’s Code)

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

They did not have the right to divorce their husbands, and almost all women were uneducated. In Mesopotamia, women were also treated very poorly. They were taught to attend to all of their husband’s needs, and could be punished severely if they did not do as their husband said. In Babylonia, during Hammurabi’s rule, there was even a law that stated that if a woman did not obey her husband or was unfaithful to him in any way, he was legally allowed to throw her in the river, ultimately drowning her.

People often assume that kings always make laws that are right and just for all people, but if that is looked into, is it really true? Not necessarily, at least in the case of Hammurabi’s Code. Hammurabi was a king in Babylon during 1792 BCE who created 282 laws which were printed on a stele. These later became known as Hammurabi’s Code. Hammurabi’s Code was made by King Hammurabi who wanted ultimately to protect the weak- such as widows and orphans- from the strong, and who wanted fairness throughout his lands. So, was Hammurabi’s Code fair to all people? Hammurabi’s code was unjust because of evidence supported by laws about Personal Injury, Property, and Family.

Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man named Hammurabi became king of babylonia. He ruled for 42 years. During that time, he became the ruler of much of Mesopotamia, which had an estimated population of 1,000,000 people or more. In his 38th year, Hammurabi made a set of 282 laws called a code that he had engraved on a stone stele. He did this to bring order and fairness to all. There has been some debate about the justness of this code. In my opinion, Hammurabi’s code was not just because of it’s family law, property law, and personal injury law.

By the 10th Century BC, hanging, drowning, boiling, and burning, were added as ways for punishing simple crimes, or even for actions that today would not be considered crimes.

Hammurabi, the ruler of Mesopotamia, invented 282 laws approximately 4,000 years ago to obtain peace. In my opinion, Hammurabi’s Code was not just; it affected many families in a negative way, there were many other ways to resolve the problems presented, and most of the victims were treated unfairly. Foremost, Hammurabi’s Code separated families. For example, in Document C Law 129 when the son strikes his father there are more other responsible ways to punish the son other than cutting off his hands.

Hammurabi's goal being king was being a big him to his civilization. The first reasons the laws were unjust was future kings not being able to change the laws. In Document B it has stated "let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument". Another reason why the laws were unjust because people who did not know how to read would have been punished for not knowing them. In Document B it stated " that people had to alter the law of the land which Hammurabi has written".

In a world of pain, agony, misery, suffering, hardship, agony strict laws are needed-and there lived a man by the name of Hammurabi that sought to bring justice to this godforsaken wasteland.

Mesopotamian women did not have very much freedom at all. They were expected to follow the laws of Hammurabi’s code, which were not very fair to women. “The Mesopotamian woman's role was strictly defined. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.” (oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) Mesopotamian women were very limited to what they could or could not do.

From prehistory to 600 BCE, gender roles have been influenced by religion in many civilizations. In ancient Mesopotamia, “The Mesopotamian woman's role was strictly defined. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status” (University of Chicago). In Mesopotamia’s polytheistic religion, women were only known as the mother of a son, or the wife to a husband. This was influenced by the religion because the many gods influenced how men and women were treated in Mesopotamia. This is similar to how women were treated in another civilization at the time, Israel. In Israel, women would not own property or get a divorce, and, if involved with extramarital relations, would be put to death. According to the Oxford Research