Different countries have different laws and codes of living and penalties for transgressors vary too, but it has always been essential for laws to be drawn up by the leaders of social groups to keep some kind of order. One of the most intricate and detailed legal systems that the world has ever known was put together by Hammurabi, a Babylonian King, in 1758 BC.
The law consisted of two hundred and eighty two paragraphs which were hand chiseled into a huge granite pillar which was erected in the temples dedicated to one of the gods of Babylon called Marduk. The idea was that every citizen of Babylon would be able to see it and so had no excuse for breaking the law. However, they did not make allowances or provide an alternative for those who could not read.
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This huge pillar disappeared for many hundreds of years after the epic fall of Babylon in the sixteenth century BC, and was uncovered again by a French archaeologist in 1901, under the ruins of the ancient Persian (Iran) city of Susa. All of Hammurabi’s words were still legible on the surface of the granite. This slab is now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
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The laws that King Hammurabi laid down were far more extensive than any that had been decreed before and they covered all areas of life including crime, divorce, marriage, the rights of slaves and slave owners, and inheritance laws, debt recovery, property deeds and even taxes and controlling the price of goods.
Anyone breaking the law faced harsh and sometimes cruel penalties. Murderers, thieves and those who accused others falsely were all put to death. One example is the law that said that a child who struck his father would lose that hand. The idea of an eye-for-an-eye was often taken to extremes. If, for example, a householder’s son was killed because of the negligence of the builder of a house, the builder’s son would be killed.
These laws may seem harsh but they were a dramatic improvement on the old tribal way of doing things. Forfeiting an ‘eye for an eye’ meant that the penalty exacted would never be greater than the crime. So, there is a strange kind of fairness and equality inherent in the system.
These laws stopped private blood feuds and banned men from being permitted to simply capture and keep the woman they wanted as a bride. They also took the circumstances of the offender and the offence into account, so that a poorer citizen who did not win a civil case would have to pay less by way of a fine than a wealthier person in the same circumstances although he would also get less if he won.
These ancient laws from Babylon almost 4000 years ago are strangely reminiscent of the law in some countries today, so perhaps things have not changed very much for some people.
About Louie Jerome Louie Jerome is a writer and English language teacher from England. She also works part-time as an editor and does some counselling work. Life is hectic but it's never boring! Did you enjoy this article?