Code of Hammurabi

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Unit 2 Legal Code Assignment

Kaplan university

SS375 – 1

Kaplan university

SS375 – 1

Unit 2 Assignment

Part 1 Code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi reigned form 1792 to 1750 B.C.E. and is known as Babylon’s most notable ruler. Part of the reason he is known as Babylon’s most notable ruler is because Hammurabi was responsible for issuing the Code of Hammurabi which is named after him. According to (Horne, 1915); the Code of Hammurabi is “the earliest-known example of a ruler proclaiming publicly to his people an entire body of laws, arranged in orderly groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them”. The Code of Hammurabi were laws that were intended to regulate matters such as contracts and trade, marriage and adultery, debts and estates, and relations among social classes. In order to make sure that these laws were seen publicly, they were carved on a black stone pillar and then placed in a temple. One purpose for the Code of Hammurabi was to hold people accountable for their actions. If you broke the law you would have to face the consequences that were based on retribution or the well-known principle “an eye for an eye”. The intentions of these laws were aimed at deterring crimes and making the punishments for breaking the laws fair according to the particular crime that was committed.

Back then in Mesopotamian society, their society was hierarchical. This type of society was divided and consisted of nobles, commoners, and slaves. The problem with this particular type of society is that the penalties for breaking the law were different depending on a person’s social status. If a noble committed a crime against a commoner the penalty would be less severe than if a commoner committed a crime against a noble. According to the Code of Hammurabi, property rights were valued highly. Two specific crimes that were punishable by death are robbery and theft. When reading the Code of...