Amber Petersen

Hist. 1100 Western civ.

03/01/2016
The Hammurabi Code
Way back in the early eighteenth century (1792-1750 B.C.E) there was a king named
Hammurabi who believed he was commissioned by the great god Marduk to direct the land as
well as guide the common people aright. He had done this by creating law and justice in the form
of written law in the language of the land.
According to James B. Pritchard from Princeton University who translated the source on
The Hammurabi Code talks about the establishment of the code on a stone pillar adorned with
a relief depicting the god of justice who appointed Hammurabi to write the laws that would
govern all of Mesopotamia. He also described how the king influenced people both in their
public and private lives.
The law code was written sometime between (1792-1750 B.C.E.) by Hammurabi himself
during his ruling. The law code was written in ancient Mesopotamia. This law was somewhat
heavily enforced so that the strong would not prey on the weak. This was mostly shown in an eye
for an eye type of judgment in most cases. This document was a law code to govern the free
people as well as the slaves so that people would have a fair and just rules in which to follow
without having to remember every single law there was. The law was done in such a way that
everyone would know what the laws were and what punishment they might receive if the law
was broken. The intended audience was all of Mesopotamia including the king. This ranged from
the higher class to the slaves and no one was above the law.

A lot of the laws were based on class or rank in the society. An example of this was to say
that if a rich or wealthy man had broken a leg of another in the same rank the other is allowed to
break the offenders leg, hence the eye for an eye judgment. If a man of higher rank were to
strike a common folk he would have to pay a certain amount of silver for the offence.
If say the higher ranking person was to hit a slave he would pay a smaller amount than
that of a common rank. The laws were set mostly based on rank. Like for instance if a person of
common rank hit another of the same rank he or she would have to pay silver worth of the
offence. If a slave were to hit someone of a higher rank he would have his or her ear cut off.
When it came to trading. If a merchant lent any of his goods to a trader for retail they
would have to write down the value and pay it back to the merchant as well as secure a sealed
receipt for the money he paid back to the merchant. If however the trader became careless and
forgot to get the sealed receipt for his payment he would not be allowed to credit it to his
accounts. If there was any kind of dispute between trader and merchant and the trader failed to
return goods, he would have to pay six fold the price which he would have received for the sale
of all he did not return.
The laws also covered marriage that if a man wanted to divorce his wife because she has
not borne him any children he would first be required to pay back the marriage price and dowry
before he would be allowed to do so. If the woman wished to be divorced she would have to
declare that he shall not have her and prove that she is without fault before she can divorce and
receive back her dowry and return to her fathers house. If however she is not careful and was
gallivant, therefore neglectful of her house, she would be thrown into the river. If the wife chose
to leave in order to engage in business, thus neglecting her house and humiliating her husband

(pg.23) and the husband could prove this he may divorce her without her receiving anything in
way of dowry or marriage price.
If a woman was caught cheating she would be tied up and thrown into the river as
punishment. There was also a law that basically said that if another man had sexual relations with
a woman who was betrothed to another man and was a virgin the offending man would be
sentenced to death and the woman would be free to go. Also it is said that if the woman was
accused of adultery and was not caught she would freely throw herself into the river for the sake
of her husband. (pg.22)
If, say you were to steal anything from livestock, personal items or kidnap of another you
would be sentenced to death. If a person was accused of witchcraft or sorcery the accused would
be thrown into the river if they survived, such as by floating without drowning you would be able
to claim the accusers estate and the accuser would be put to death. If, however the accused did
not survive the accuser could claim the accused estate. If someone were to help a slave of any
kind out of the city gates they would be put to death. If you harbored a fugitive slave you would
be put to death as well.
If a person were to be robbed and the robber caught he would be put to death. If, however
you were robbed and could not find the culprit the state would make good of the lost property. As
far as cultivation was concerned if you rented anothers field for cultivation, it would be required
for you to give a certain amount of grain for the usage of their field. If you did not end up
making use of the field you or the person renting it would have to pay back the owner based on
what the surrounding fields produced. Also, if a shepherd let his animals graze on the land owned
by another person without permission they would have to pay Twenty kur of grain per eighteen
iku to the owner of the field. (pg. 21)

If someone were to accuse someone inaccurately they would be sentenced to death. Also
if someone was accused of murder and it could not be proven, the said accuser would be put to
death. With all these laws consisting of punishments from death, being thrown into a river, eye
for an eye judgments, all the way to just paying a fee, it was imperative that you followed the
rules.
With this being the first law code ever written it was crucial that it showed fairness and
justice to all class rankings as well as set an example for future laws for different cultures
throughout the ages all the way to our current society. If Hammurabi never set the stage for law
and order, who knows what our lives would have been like. I feel this was an important stepping
stone for history as well as the shaping of our society as it is today.

(All the citations are from the source book starting from pg. 18-26)