The Kings Law The Code of Hammurabi

May 29, 2014 Theodoros II Comments

Hammurabi was the oldest son of Sin-Muballit, and he became the sixth king of Babylon upon
his fathers abdication around 1729 BC (based on the short chronology timeline).
Even though he didnt inherit much power from his father and at the time he controlled only a
small part of Babylonia, the city of Sippar, he later became the first king of the so-called
Babylonian Empire. With his accession to the throne, he expanded Babylons dominance and
authority over Mesopotamia by being victorious in a series of wars against adjoining lands and
kingdoms. In his almost forty-three-year reign, he became the greatest conqueror Babylonia had
ever seen and his empire dominated all of Mesopotamia.
Despite Hammurabis success and greatness as a conqueror and king, hes best remembered, not
for his accomplishments on the battlefield, but for being a great reformer and legislator. Most
pertinently, Hammurabi produce and organized set of laws known as Hammurabis Code, which
is possibly the very first written code of laws, or at the least, the oldest to have survived to this
day.

Code of Hammurabi was found at Susa, Iran, in 1901. At the top of it is a bas-relief image that
portrays Shamash, the Sun God in the Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian pantheons, handing
the code of laws to the king, pointing out in this way (as it was the trend in pretty much every
culture back then) that it had divine origins. The code is inscribed in the Akkadian language,
using cuneiform script carved into the stele, and an almost complete exemplar of it is on display
today in the Louvre.
King Hammurabi wanted these laws to please the gods, which is why all legislation of the code
begins with a compliment to the gods. Unlike many previous kings and rulers, Hammurabi did
not think that he descended from the gods; however, many people believed and often claimed
that the kinsman is a healer just like a god.
Hammurabis Code consisted of 282 laws, and punishments varying depending on the
socioeconomic class of the accusers and the accused. Some of the main topics, among others,
include dealing with theft, agriculture, destruction of property, marriage and the rights of the two
parts therein, womens rights, childrens rights, the rights of slaves, murder, and the death
penalty.
The included laws were quite harsh and did not forgive any misinterpretation, as the code was
placed publicly, so that all could see it. However, the majority of the people at that time could not
read and so fatal misunderstandings are thought to have occurred frequently.
As for how punishments were determined, the basic tenet of the laws was that the punishment
should not be heavier or milder than the crime committed, something markedly different than,
for instance, the infamous Draconian laws where even certain slight offenses could see a person
receive the death penalty.
The laws themselves were written in 285 separate articles and the texts were divided by
categories that include individual rights, property rights, trade, family offenses, and labor
matters.
According to the code, Hammurabi divided society into three classes:
1. The nobles and rich landowners
2. The middle and poor social classes (who may own land and slaves)
3. The slaves, who were mostly war captives.
Additionally, the administrative law system of the code was seemingly well ahead of its
time. Hammurabi divided the empire into large regions in which he installed trusted commanders
(like todays governors) with whom he kept a correspondence about the administration of those
regions. In addition, there was an independent authority that controlled the local commanders for
possible arbitrariness and disobedience to the kings laws. Accomplished judges administered the
legislation and they were also observed by Hammurabis council and advisers.

Hammurabis Code also helped to develop a considerable progressive educational system and the
literacy percentages inside the empire exploded, making the Babylonian citizens some of the
most educated and sophisticated the world had seen up to that time.
All that said, despite the Code of Hammurabi being one of the most well-written and advanced
legal codes of antiquity, today it would be considered ridiculously harsh, inhumane, sexist, and
even irrational in many cases.
To give you a little taste of some of the items in the lengthy Code of Hammurabi:

If a mans wife has the finger pointed at her on account of another, but has not been
caught lying with him, for her husbands sake, she shall plunge into the sacred river.

If a man has struck a free woman with child, and has caused her to miscarry, he shall pay
ten shekels for her miscarriage. If that woman dies, his daughter shall be killed.

If it be the daughter of a plebeian that has miscarried through his blows, he shall pay five
shekels of silver. If that woman dies, he shall pay half a mina of silver.

If the surgeon has treated a serious injury of a plebeians slave, with the bronze lancet,
and has caused his death, he shall render slave for slave.

If a slave has said to his master, You are not my master, he shall be brought to account
as his slave, and his master shall cut off his ear.

If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.

If a man, after his fathers death, has lain in the bosom of his mother, they shall both of
them be burnt together.