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To What Extent Was Hammurabi's Code Just Dbq

Decent Essays

Was Hammurabi’s Code Just? (By Sofia Bradburn)

Imagine living during the 1750’s and living in Babylon. The king and ruler, Hammurabi had multiple laws to rule the society, to make sure the widows and orphans were safe and that the weak were protected from the strong. Some of these laws were harsh. Maybe too harsh. Were these laws just? Was Hammurabi’s code just? Hammurabi’s code was not just because the laws didn’t protect all people equally, the punishments were too harsh, and Hammurabi’s laws may scare away people from his society. Looking at the evidence it states that punishments towards slaves are different than the punishments towards free men and women. Hammurabi’s code was unjust because the laws didn’t protect all people …show more content…

He shouldn’t want them to be scared of him or of his laws. But, Hammurabi’s laws, being too harsh, could cause people to be afraid and scared. In document E, Law 218, the surgeon job wouldn’t be a job people would want to do because of the harsh punishment for something that could happen unintentionally. The society wouldn’t have as many surgeons because of this and that is not fair to the people. The people should have multiple surgeons to help their serious or minor injuries. In document C, 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.” A married lady should be able to be with whoever she wants to be and not get a punishment for that. Of course, the husband may get angry, but getting killed for cheating may scare people away. It is true that some actions deserve consequence, but not ones that make people feel like they are in danger. It’s not fair to the people because they should feel like they are living in a good society. The population of Babylon would go down because of laws and punishments scaring people away. As king, Hammurabi should want people to stay and want to live there, not wanting to run

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