Compare And Contrast The Code Of Hammurabi

The Babylonian Empire reigned during the eighteenth century, and was extremely advanced for the time period that it reigned in. They had a fair judicial system in place that offered compensation for work and punishment for wrongdoing. They also had a social hierarchical system in place that divided people into various socioeconomic classes. Though the Babylonian empire could be considered a “civilization” to an extent due to it’s advanced social hierarchy and justice system, they are not widely portrayed as a civilized empire due to their mistreatment of women within their society. The Code of Hammurabi was the Babylonian idea of a judicial law system that offered fair repayment for work and fair punishment for crimes. The system was unique because it was actually written out, which was very uncommon for the period that it was written in. It strongly discouraged people from committing wrongdoings because there were repercussions for their actions, and most people did not want to be repaid with the crime they committed. For example, “If [a man] has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken”. Though it was extremely harsh, the Code of Hammurabi proved to be extremely effective and caused people to be much less …show more content…
It divided people into distinct social classes; the Amelu, the Muskinu and the Ardu. People paid taxes and held certain degrees of liability based on the social class that they were in. For example, the aristocrats, known as the Amulu, paid the highest taxes and fines for misdemeanors. The only downside, however, was the large gap in people’s socioeconomic status, which is quite similar to the modern world’s gap. The Muskinu were the Plebeians, the Ardu were the slaves, and there was no middle class in the Babylonian society. The idea of taxing based on economic status was an extremely important idea, and is still widely practiced within modern