Code of Hammurabi

     “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” This phrase, or shortened variations of it, have been used for countless years, decades, and even centuries by humans around the world; it has even found a home in the Christian religious text known as The Bible. But where exactly did this saying come from and exactly how old is it?
     
     Around the year 1790B.C, King Hammurabi of the Babylon established an extensive set of legal codes known today as the Code of Hammurabi. In total 282 laws were established by Hammurabi and during the time of the Babylonian Empire, were written using a system known as cuneiform on large, black pillars made of diorite that stood a little over eight feet in height.  These pillars were typically found throughout large cities in the empire in order for the populace to become educated on the good and the bad that had been decreed by their king. A vast majority of laws deal with issues relevant to the period such as agriculture and family with all the laws revolving around the concept of “an eye for an eye”, as in a punishment or binding agreement equal to the offense committed. Here is an excerpt that reflects this idea:

“8. If anyone steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.”

     So for what purpose did Hammurabi feel the need to create a legal system? When Hammurabi came to power, he managed to absorb and conquer surrounding villages, farming communities, and other city-states and place them under Babylonian rule. This meant that new people with their own cultures/beliefs were being mixed with the people of Babylon and so needed a way to treat everybody fairly and keep a sense of unity as one.  This keen thinking by the king led to the creation of a uniformed code of laws which would apply to everybody; experts were sent around the kingdom to gather the existing laws each area currently were enforcing and refined many of them to establish this known set of laws.  Hammurabi himself even stated that he wants "to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked person and the evil-doer, that the strong might not injure the weak."

     The efforts of Hammurabi to create a widely accessible and known code of laws also shows us what life was like during ancient Babylonian times. As pointed out earlier, a majority of laws deal with both family and agriculture. Not only were these important concepts for Babylon but other civilizations when discussing ancient history such as Egypt and Life all but revolved around maintaining and taking care of crops and livestock as it was a necessity in order to eat, produce goods like furs, and even used for trade and taxes. Family was another important factor due to the ability of carrying on the family name and tree along with producing enough children in order to help work the family farm.

Rather short for an essay.

Quote from: Kinder_ on October 05, 2014, 09:41:39 PM

Quote from: Yutaka on October 05, 2014, 09:40:35 PM

Rather short for an essay.

In MS Word using MLA style, it takes up two papers. Plus it was a summary type of deal

You are the worst kind of student

Quote from: Kinder_ on October 05, 2014, 09:41:39 PM

Quote from: Yutaka on October 05, 2014, 09:40:35 PM

Rather short for an essay.

In MS Word using MLA style, it takes up two papers. Plus it was a summary type of deal

-100 for lack of effort.

Enjoy your failing grade, fgt.

ayy napalm, got a 94 on it on top of two others I had to do lmao

Spoiler

Quote from: Kinder_ on October 05, 2014, 10:02:10 PM

ayy napalm, got a 94 on it on top of two others I had to do lmao

Kinder's professor confirmed to lack standards.

Quote from: Mega Sceptile on October 05, 2014, 10:28:48 PM

That's what passes for a fracking essay nowadays? Well frack me, I had to write 10 page essays with a 4 paragraph thesis in uni, and that was the minimum..

omg

I replied and said it was a summary. Summary, essay, analysis, same damn thing