Hammurabi's Code Of Law

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The creation of Hammurabi’s Code instilled responsibilities of the public and their need to understand and acknowledge the laws that are written down. The Code maintained order by clarifying the rules and punishments that go along with the rules if one is broken. The Code works to reinforce distinction between social classes, for example the eighth Code of law states “If anyone steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.” This law demonstrates particular disciplinary rules for social order. Hammurabi’s Code of law provides…show more content…
This proves that the Babylonian society did have social classification and various levels of power, however it also shows that they understood equality for all class levels. This Code sets an example of today, how all genders, race and ethnicity are equal. The Babylonians created protection and penalties for all social classes, however a punishment would be more harsh if a lower class member committed a crime towards an upper class member rather than vice versa. This shows that the Babylonians valued justification and fairness in their society, thus encouraging compliance. The author makes an assumption that Hammurabi assumes that his members of the kingdom have the same values and morals as himself. He also suggest that Hammurabi writes the law believing everyone will agree with what is written and leaves no room for anyone to disagree with him. The sixth Code of law states, “If anyone steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.” There are many Codes that talk about law and property, this demonstrates how important property rights were to Babylonians. The law also states a reward for finding runaway slaves, this exemplifies the importance of having property over slaves. The Code provided a set a rules that…show more content…
This shows the divine authority vested in Hammurabi that allowed the Babylonians to accept his extensive religious and political authority over them. It was a required worship throughout the society, Marduk was the supreme babylonian deity. The outcome; Babylonians invested divine authority in deities. The babylonian society believed in a divine river, which decided whether that member was guilty or innocent. In the Code of law it says that, “If the “finger is pointed” at a man’s wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.” This indicates that Babylonians believed their fate was controlled by their gods. Members of the society believed in divine legitimacy and contact between humans and divine realms. Mesopotamian deities expected humans to worship and praise them, while in return humans expected the deities to stabilize nature and provide a good fortune. In addiction deities were in command of humans, “If the divine authority demands that His followers engage in warfare—then what else can pious followers do?” The relationship between human law and divine legitimacy is supported by

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