7th hour Hammurabi’s Code: Was It Just?
Spare the rod and spoil the kingdom! This phrase was taken to the extreme in Ancient Mesopotamia. In 1792 BCE, a man named Hammurabi became the king of Babylon. At this time, Babylon was at war with neighboring city-states. Therefore, Hammurabi created a list of 282 laws to try and protect the people. Theses laws were then carved into a stele. The question is, were these laws just? There are three areas of law where Hammurabi’s Code can be shown to be unjust. These are family law, property law, and personal injury law. Examples of unjustice can first be found in the area of family law. Law 195 states, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.” (Doc. C) This …show more content…
As Hammurabi states in Document D, “If a man has broken through a wall [to rob] a house, they shall put him to death and pierce him, or hang him, in the hole in the wall which he has made.” (Doc. D) This example shows that Hammurabi’s Code was unjust because this punishment was way too cruel. For robbing a house, he doesn’t deserve death! Can’t they put him in a cell for a very long time? Nowadays, they would just put him in jail for around 5 years, and more if he has fines and has violated even more laws. This code is definitely unjust. Examples of unjustice can be found in the area of personal injury law. And I quote, “If a man has struck the slave-girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay 2 shekels of silver…” (Doc. E) If it was the daughter of a free man, the would pay 10 shekels of silver. That’s way too unjust! He does have to pay, of course, but an 8 shekel difference? These examples show that Hammurabi’s Code was unjust because an unborn baby, no matter what race or who it’s being carried by, is harmless and is worth the same as any other unborn
Spare the rod and spoil the kingdom! This phrase was taken to the extreme in Ancient Mesopotamia. In 1792 BCE, a man named Hammurabi became the king of Babylon. At this time, Babylon was at war with neighboring city-states. Therefore, Hammurabi created a list of 282 laws to try and protect the people. Theses laws were then carved into a stele. The question is, were these laws just? There are three areas of law where Hammurabi’s Code can be shown to be unjust. These are family law, property law, and personal injury law. Examples of unjustice can first be found in the area of family law. Law 195 states, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.” (Doc. C) This …show more content…
As Hammurabi states in Document D, “If a man has broken through a wall [to rob] a house, they shall put him to death and pierce him, or hang him, in the hole in the wall which he has made.” (Doc. D) This example shows that Hammurabi’s Code was unjust because this punishment was way too cruel. For robbing a house, he doesn’t deserve death! Can’t they put him in a cell for a very long time? Nowadays, they would just put him in jail for around 5 years, and more if he has fines and has violated even more laws. This code is definitely unjust. Examples of unjustice can be found in the area of personal injury law. And I quote, “If a man has struck the slave-girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay 2 shekels of silver…” (Doc. E) If it was the daughter of a free man, the would pay 10 shekels of silver. That’s way too unjust! He does have to pay, of course, but an 8 shekel difference? These examples show that Hammurabi’s Code was unjust because an unborn baby, no matter what race or who it’s being carried by, is harmless and is worth the same as any other unborn