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Essay / Hammurabi's Code: Designed to Equalize Society and Establish Justice
Table of ContentsHistorical BackgroundConclusionWorks CitedCitation NotesHe proved to be a capable military commander, politician, and visionary Babylonian leader. Hammurabi considered himself "the king of justice" and created a legal code consisting of 282 laws. All laws covered specific topics such as slander, fraud, slavery, degree of punishment for a crime, commerce, liability, divorce, inheritance, etc. The Code of Hammurabi is the oldest text from the ancient Babylonian period. The code has been considered one of the first examples of a law regulating a government that is an ancient constitution. The code is also one of the first examples of the idea of presumption of innocence, which also suggests that both the accused and the accuser have the opportunity to provide evidence. My goal in this article is to uncover how the code unified, consolidated, and secured the empire by establishing a standard for moral values, religion, class structure, and gender relations, as well as how other have adapted to it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To achieve this goal, I have organized the article into two main sections and one of the two sections has a subsection. In the first section I give a description of what the kingdom of Babylon was and what led them to create the code. In the second section, in the first subsection, I describe the action of laws related to events such as slander, fraud, slavery, the degree of punishment for a crime, commerce, liability, divorce, inheritance, etc. , I described the impact he had on people and how he revolutionized the modern generation. I also include an appendix after the works cited that contains the textbooks I reviewed. Before I can begin reviewing my research, I begin my first section with the historical context in which the books were written, and it is to this that I now turn. Historical Background Hammurabi came to power in 1792 BC and ruled for forty-three years. years. When Hammurabi sat on the throne, his kingdom was not very large, although he conquered some neighboring city-states that measured "about 60 by 160 kilometers." He set out to further expand his kingdom through his wars of conquest and as soon as his conquest was complete, Hammurabi assumed the role of "good shepherd" for his diverse conquered population. After all the impending wars, Hammurabi took it upon himself to become a great leader by bringing his people "safe and prosperous again" and then carrying out major buildings and renovations for the towns and people. Although it is unclear what prompted Hammurabi to create the Code, it is believed, as Mieroop noted, that it must be taken into account by Hammurabi's own people and future kings. Between December 1901 and January 1902, the monument in which the Code of Hammurabi is written was discovered in the acropolis of Susa, today Iran, by a team sent by the French government under the direction of a mining engineer named M. de Morgan. . They found three pieces of shiny black stone from the monument that were not difficult to put together and were nearly seven and a half feet tall. At the top of the monument was carved the portrait of a man, a king, standing in front of a seated figure, who we know today as Shamash, the Babylonian god of the sun and also of justice. Below the image were many rows of writing in a script called cuneiform, meaning "inwedge shape”. It owes its name to the way writing was usually produced: scribes pressed a wedge-shaped reed into damp clay. But on this monument, the words were very carefully engraved in the black rock. The Code of Hammurabi was written in various contexts for various kinds of events that occurred during Hammurabi's reign. Defamation is one of the contexts that have had branches of different types of occurrences followed by different punishments. Types of SlanderThere have been incidents of an individual against a priestess, a wife, a suitor, a witness, a capital offense, a seditious person. Sanctions consisted of payment of fines or loss of property, etc. Fraud is another context that has occurred in various ways involving categories. This involved fraud by illegal purchase, theft, theft, substitution of someone, false declaration, etc. The level of punishment as such was “an eye for an eye” or even death. Slavery at this time played a huge role in Hammurabi's reign. There were laws established for slavery. Among all the laws there were barriers because they were not considered equal as the culture was diversified due to land capture. Due to land capture, people were enslaved even if they had wealth. There were rewards for captures or misdeeds and deaths of owners for deceptive acts such as seductions, harboring the slave, and other punishments such as hitting the owner's son or contesting ownership may lead to having one's ear cut off in the case of a slave. local accountability was a set of codes established especially for magistrates and governing officers. If the magistrate dismisses an officer or takes the officer's lands for another, without the king's order, the magistrate will be put to death. This was considered a means of theft. In the case of the officer, he cannot sell his properties to anyone because he will have to lose his designation and be degraded to the rank of farmer or slave. Dowry was insurance money for a woman getting married. In case of divorce given by the husband to the wife, there were also some rules. Divorce results in recovery of her dowry money and her children as well. If she did not receive the dowry, she would receive a sum of money. A woman can leave her husband everything she owes if she feels that her husband needs another wife. Inheritance is also another essential point due to the diversity of classes and cultures during this period. Inheritance was reported to children who give birth to their mothers. In special cases, for example, if a man has two wives, the child will inherit the dowry of their respective mothers, the woman's son may have first choice and if a woman, who is free, marries a slave, his children are free. The codes were created to equalize society, establish justice and fairness, establish the rule of righteousness, and protect the weak from the strong. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert writers now. Get a custom paper essay ConclusionThere were class differences between the rich and the poor, men and women, and elites and commissioners were treated differently by the law. This deepened the social hierarchy and distinctions between classes and genders, which quickly became normal and accepted in society. The law also provided content for women who were perceived differently as being slaves to men and taking care of their homes and properties and raising their children. The code also added moral values to