Law Code Of Hammurabi
The Law Code of Hammurabi is one of the most famous texts of the ancient city of Mesopotamia. The law code is a devised set of 282 laws and penalties created by the Babylonian King, Hammurabi, king of the Amorites. Created to accommodate every problem that could possibly arise, the laws were put in place to maintain order. His code promoted the concept of an ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' as way of dealing with criminals. Punishment often resulting in death or a loss of a limb if a law was broken. The purpose was to create a law so that if someone were to do something bad they would be punished. Although this idea is viewed as harsh, the rules helped to enforce power, structure, and equality. The reasoning’s for Hammurabi’s codes are made clear, he strived for structure in his kingdom and he …show more content…
The intended audience was the people of Mesopotamia and made clear to the people by publically displaying the laws in the middle of the city. The laws were carved into a large stone monument called a stele. King Hammurabi made his laws strict and enforced them with the help of his court. Punishments were severe and varied based on a person's social class and ranking, they were designed to match the crime. Taking a literal sense to the idea like stated before of “an eye for an eye” or something equitable. The phrase "an eye for an eye" represents what many view as a harsh sense of justice basing it on revenge. This idea comes from the principle of lex talionis, “if a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.” Although this is just a short exert from the code but goes to show just how strict the law was. The people clearly knew the consequences that came with the crime; this helped to keep a tight leash on the people. The law was clear and even required accusers to bring the accused into court by themselves, and if the accuser was wrong they would take the
The Law Code of Hammurabi is one of the most famous texts of the ancient city of Mesopotamia. The law code is a devised set of 282 laws and penalties created by the Babylonian King, Hammurabi, king of the Amorites. Created to accommodate every problem that could possibly arise, the laws were put in place to maintain order. His code promoted the concept of an ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' as way of dealing with criminals. Punishment often resulting in death or a loss of a limb if a law was broken. The purpose was to create a law so that if someone were to do something bad they would be punished. Although this idea is viewed as harsh, the rules helped to enforce power, structure, and equality. The reasoning’s for Hammurabi’s codes are made clear, he strived for structure in his kingdom and he …show more content…
The intended audience was the people of Mesopotamia and made clear to the people by publically displaying the laws in the middle of the city. The laws were carved into a large stone monument called a stele. King Hammurabi made his laws strict and enforced them with the help of his court. Punishments were severe and varied based on a person's social class and ranking, they were designed to match the crime. Taking a literal sense to the idea like stated before of “an eye for an eye” or something equitable. The phrase "an eye for an eye" represents what many view as a harsh sense of justice basing it on revenge. This idea comes from the principle of lex talionis, “if a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.” Although this is just a short exert from the code but goes to show just how strict the law was. The people clearly knew the consequences that came with the crime; this helped to keep a tight leash on the people. The law was clear and even required accusers to bring the accused into court by themselves, and if the accuser was wrong they would take the