Essay

Nicholas Hilby

July 8th 2014

History 126 Week 2 Assignment

Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Gottberg

In the time of the code of Hammurabi many things were put into place especially in ancient Mesopotamia. One of these was the strict laws used upon the civilians set by King Hammurabi. The code was enacted into law in 1750 B.C.E. Historians believe that this code was one of the first in the country of Babylon during king Hammurabi’s reign from 1795 B.C.E to 1750 B.C.E. According to the Fordham University sourcebook by Charles F. Horne it states, “The code then regulates in clear and definite strokes the organization of society. The judge who blunders in a law case is to be expelled from his judgeship forever, and heavily fined. The witness who testifies falsely is to be slain. Indeed, all the heavier crimes are made punishable with death” (Horne 1). One of my questions to this is why do the punishments have to be so strict?

When we humans look at today’s laws relating to the justice throughout the United States but also the other 195 countries in the world, not all have the same rules and laws for dealing with criminals and felons. I would say that after reading this it changed my view on how we saw it. I believe that the Justice system back then was to extreme and killing and torture was more present than ever before. Like it giving the robbery example for law number 22 stating, “ If one is committing a robbery and is caught while doing so he shall be put to death” ( Horne 12). In addition another example was, if a sister or god open a tavern or even enter a tavern, this woman shall be burned to death” (Horne 14). Also the major concern of these laws is the torture and death by many because the laws were too strict. Women were also limited on their freedom. In general in order for this law to be effective many would have to come together to enact a document everyone could agree on. However since the civilians had little authority over the king it was up to him...