Law And Social Justice In Mesopotamia And Hammurabi

Throughout history the law and social justice was often approached in differing ways from one society to another. The presence of law was based on several different factors. Religion, morals, rituals, and multiple other elements influenced the affect law and social justice would play in a civilization. The roles of individuals in their society, the influence of religion and social hierarchy can affect the enforcement of social justice and the basis of a society’s laws. Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient India all had similarities and differences in their attitudes towards law and social justice. Mesopotamia, meaning the “land between the rivers”, was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. It was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, an area also referred to as the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia was by …show more content…
From this empire we get the best inference on the laws and social justice of Mesopotamia. Under Hammurabi, a body of laws known as the code of Hammurabi ran the society. These laws are viewed as some of the strictest regulations ever to be created. From this code comes the saying “an eye for an eye.” This analogy however does not depict the stipulations of the code of Hammurabi all that well. Several other factors played a role in the enforcement of these laws. Punishment was simply based on social class. If an individual of a lower end social class were to commit a crime against a society elite, their punishment would be way more severe than if the situation was vice versa (Nathan). A large section of the code focused on family and marriage. From this section we see the influence of gender on laws and social justice. Men were held to a higher esteem than women. For example, in Mesopotamian society, men were allowed sexual relations outside of their marriage and women were not (King). Social class and gender played major roles in establishing what constitutes