Code of Hammurabi? |
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An inscription of the Code of HammurabiThe Code of Hammurabi, created ca. 1700 BC (short chronology), also known as the Codex Hammurabi, and Hammurabi's Code is one of the earliest sets of laws found, and one of the best preserved examples of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia. Other collections of laws include the codex of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (ca. 2050 BC), the Codex of Eshnunna (ca. 1930 BC) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (ca. 1870 BC).
It shows rules and punishments if those rules are broken. It focuses on theft, farming (or shepherding), property damage, women's rights, marriage rights, children's rights, slave rights, murder, death, and injury. The punishment is different for different classes of offenders and victims. For a comprehensive summary, see Babylonian law.
The laws do not accept excuses or explanations for mistakes or fault: the Code was openly displayed for all to see, so no man could plead ignorance of the law as an excuse. Few people, however, could read in that era (literacy mainly being the domain of scribes).
Hammurabi (1728 BC–1686 BC) felt he had to write the code to please his gods. Unlike many earlier and contemporary kings, he did not consider himself related to any god, although he did call himself "the favorite of the gods". In the upper part of the stela Hammurabi is shown in front of the throne of the Sun god Shamash.
The laws (numbered from 1 to 282, but numbers 13, and 66–99 are missing) are inscribed in Old Babylonian on an 8 foot tall stela of black diorite. It was discovered in December 1901 in Susa, Elam, what is now Khuzistan, where it had been taken as plunder by the Elamites in the 12th century BC. It is currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
The code is often pointed to as the first example of the legal concept that some laws are so basic as to be beyond the ability of even a king to change. By writing the laws on stone they were immutable. This concept lives on in most modern legal systems and has given rise to the term written in stone.
The Code of Hammurabi was one of many sets of laws in the Ancient Near East. Most of these law codes, coming from similar cultures and racial groups in a relatively small geographical area, necessarily have passages that resemble each other. For example, the laws found in the later Hittite code of laws (ca. 1300 BC) have some individual laws that bear a passing resemblance to those in the Code of Hammurabi, as well as other codices from the same geographic area. The earlier Ur-Nammu, of the written literature prolific Ur-III dynasty (2050 BC), also produced a code of laws, some of which bear resemblance to certain specific laws in the Code of Hammurabi. The later Mosaic Law (according to the Torah redactor theory 400-300 BC; traditionally ca 1200 BC) also has some laws that resemble the Code of Hammurabi, as well as other law codes of the region.
References
- Falkenstein, A. (1956–57). Die neusumerischen Gerichtsurkunden I–III. München.
- Kohler, J. & Peiser, F.E. (1890). Aus dem Babylonischen Rechtsleben. Leipzig.
- Oppert & Menant (1877). Documents juridiques de l'Assyrie et de la Chaldee. París.
- Thomas, D. Winton, ed. (1958). Documents from Old Testament Times. London y New York.
See also
- Babylonian law
- Cuneiform Law
- Quid pro quo
- Manu Smriti
- Retributive justice
- An eye for an eye
- Lex talionis
External link
- English translation of the code
- Hi-res images and French description from the Louvre
- Summary and Full Text of the Code of Hammurabi