Hammurabi’s Codes were a comprehensive set of 282 legal codes introduced by an 18th century BCE Babylonian
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia. A small Amorite-ruled state emerged in 1894 BC, which contained the minor administrative town of Babylon. It was merely a small provincial town during the Akkadian Empir…
Why is the Code of Hammurabi important?
The Code of Hammurabi was one of the only sets of laws in the ancient Near East and also one of the first forms of law. The code of laws was arranged in orderly groups, so that all who read the laws would know what was required of them. ... The Code of Hammurabi is the longest surviving text from the Old Babylonian period.
What are some examples of criminal law in Hammurabi's Code?
Part of Hammurabi's criminal law dealt with assault and the penalties for assault. Some of the consequences of actions were dire. For example, according to Hammurabi's Code, the law reads, 'if a son strikes his father, the son's hand shall be cut off.'
What language was the Book of Hammurabi written in?
It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The primary copy of the text is inscribed on a basalt or diorite stele 2.25 m (7 ft 4
How many copies of the laws of Hammurabi are there?
Over fifty manuscripts containing the laws are known. They were found not only in Susa but also in Babylon, Nineveh, Assur, Borsippa, Nippur, Sippar, Ur, Larsa, and more. Copies were created during Hammurabi's reign, and also after it, since the text became a part of the scribal curriculum.
What is the Code of Hammurabi and why is it important?
The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 statutes inscribed in a stone monument dating to ancient Mesopotamia. Its discovery was significant because...
What are three examples of Hammurabi's laws?
The Code of Hammurabi covers legal obligations and describes reparations for issues dealing with civil law, family law, and criminal law.
What famous saying represents the code of Hammurabi?
An important section of the Code of Hammurabi deals with the "lex talonis" or what has been referred to as "an eye for an eye". If a nobleman destr...
What are the main principles of Hammurabi's Code?
Hammurabi declares that his purpose in creating the body of laws and inscribing them on the monument was to ensure that justice was carried out in...
What is the purpose of the Code of Hammurabi?
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty ...
How did the Code of Hammurabi influence later law collections?
The influence of the Code of Hammurabi on later law collections is difficult to establish. Marc Van De Mieroop suggests that it may have influenced the Greek Gortyn Code and the Roman Twelve Tables. However, even Van De Mieroop acknowledges that most Roman law is not similar to the Code, or likely to have been influenced by it.
How many lines are there in the relief of Hammurabi?
Below the relief are about 4,130 lines of cuneiform text: one fifth contains a prologue and epilogue in poetic style, while the remaining four fifths contain what are generally called the laws. In the prologue, Hammurabi claims to have been granted his rule by the gods "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak".
What was the first Mesopotamian law collection?
Although Hammurabi's Code was the first Mesopotamian law collection discovered, it was not the first written; several earlier collections survive. These collections were written in Sumerian and Akkadian. They also purport to have been written by rulers. There were almost certainly more such collections, as statements of other rulers suggest the custom was widespread. The similarities between these law collections make it tempting to assume a consistent underlying legal system. As with the Code of Hammurabi, however, it is difficult to interpret the purpose and underlying legal systems of these earlier collections, prompting numerous scholars to question whether this should be attempted. Extant collections include:
When was the Mesopotamian code discovered?
The Code was thought to be the earliest Mesopotamian law collection when it was discovered in 1902 —for example, C. H. W. Johns' 1903 book was titled The Oldest Code of Laws in the World. The English writer H. G. Wells included Hammurabi in the first volume of The Outline of History, and to Wells too the Code was "the earliest known code of law". However, three earlier collections were discovered afterwards: the Code of Lipit-Ishtar in 1947, the Laws of Eshnunna in 1948, and the Code of Ur-Nammu in 1952. Early commentators dated Hammurabi and the stele to the 23rd century BC. However, this is an earlier estimate than even the " ultra-long chronology " would support. The Code was compiled near the end of Hammurabi's reign. This was deduced partly from the list of his achievements in the prologue.
Where were the laws of Hammurabi found?
Fragments of a second and possibly third stele recording the Code were found along with the Louvre stele at Susa. Over fifty manuscripts containing the laws are known. They were found not only in Susa but also in Babylon, Nineveh, Assur, Borsippa, Nippur, Sippar, Ur, Larsa, and more. Copies were created during Hammurabi's reign, and also after it, since the text became a part of the scribal curriculum. Copies have been found dating from one thousand years after the stele's creation, and a catalogue from the library of Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (685–631 BC) lists a copy of the "judgments of Hammurabi". The additional copies fill in most of the stele's original text, including much of the erased section.
Where is Hammurabi's statue?
Capitol has a relief portrait of Hammurabi alongside those of other lawgivers, and there are replicas of the stele in numerous institutions, including the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin .
What is the principle of Hammurabi?
The great Code of Hammurabi is often said to have been based on the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” as if this were some fundamental principle of justice, elaborated and applied to all cases. In fact, the code reflects no….
What is the most frequently cited cuneiform document in specialized literature?
history of Mesopotamia: Babylonian law. The Code of Hammurabi is the most frequently cited cuneiform document in specialized literature. Its first scholarly publication in 1902 led to the development of a special branch of comparative jurisprudence, the study of cuneiform law.
When was the Diorite stela inscribed?
Diorite stela inscribed with the Code of Hammurabi, 18th century bce.
What are the 282 cases?
These 282 case laws include economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), as well as criminal law (assault, theft) and civil law (slavery, debt). Penalties varied according to the status of the offenders and the circumstances of the offenses. Diorite stela inscribed with the Code ...
Why was the discovery of the Hammurabi Code important?
The extent of the Code is also significant because the various statutes addressing civil, family, and criminal law give scholars a glimpse of early Babylonian society. Hammurabi's Code, for instance, explicitly states that it exists so that 'the strong may not oppress the weak.'
What is Hammurabi's Code?
When excavators pieced the remnants together, they discovered what is known today as the Code of Hammurabi, an inscribed stele over seven feet tall containing 282 legal statutes. The inscriptions were written in the Akkadian language, the lingua franca of the ancient Middle East. The top of the stele was inscribed with a scene of the Babylonian King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.), receiving the law from the sun god Shamash.
What are some examples of Hammurabi Code?
Hammurabi Code examples include laws relating to criminal law, civil law, and family law. For example, laws relating to family addressed a son's inheritance, as statute 168 states, 'If a man sets his face to disinherit his son and says to the judges, "I will disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his record, and if the son has not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship.' The Code also addressed civil cases about agriculture, particularly relief from creditors , for example, if an act of the gods devastated the crops: 'if a man owe a debt and Adad inundate his field and carry away the produce, or, through lack of water, grain have not grown in the field, in that year he shall not make any return of grain to the creditor; he shall alter his contract-tablet and he shall not pay the interest for that year.'
What is the code of Hammurabi?
The Code of Hammurabi covers legal obligations and describes reparations for issues dealing with civil law, family law, and criminal law.
What was the purpose of the statutes in Babylon?
Since Babylon was an agricultural city-state that relied on irrigation of land, some of the statutes pertained to the maintenance of the irrigation system. For example, if a landowner did not maintain his portion of a conduit and a neighbor's field flooded because of it, the landowner had to pay compensation for the flooded crops.
What was the law that dealt with assault?
Part of Hammurabi's criminal law dealt with assault and the penalties for assault. Some of the consequences of actions were dire. For example, according to Hammurabi's Code, the law reads, 'if a son strikes his father, the son's hand shall be cut off.'
What is the code of Justinian?
Written codes like Hammurabi's led other powerful leaders to adopt similar works. The Code of Justinian or Codex Justinianus (539-565 C.E.), a summary and extract of earlier Roman law adapted for the Byzantine Empire, is an example of a body of law like Hammurabi's.
Overview
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The primary copy of the text is inscribed on a basalt or diorite stele 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) tall.
Background
Hammurabi (or Hammurapi), the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, ruled from 1792 to 1750 BC (middle chronology). He secured Babylonian dominance over the Mesopotamian plain through military prowess, diplomacy, and treachery. When Hammurabi inherited his father Sin-Muballit's throne, Babylon held little local sway; the local hegemon was Rim-Sin of Larsa. H…
Copies
The first copy of the text found, and still the most complete, is on a 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) stele. The stele is now displayed on the ground floor of the Louvre, in Room 227 of the Richelieu wing. Scholars are divided as to the material of the stele. Some, including the Louvre and Martha Roth, have stated that it is basalt. However, others, including Marc Van De Mieroop and Father Jean-Vincent Scheil—the …
Early scholarship
The editio princeps of the Code was published by Father Jean-Vincent Scheil in 1902, in the fourth volume of the Reports of the Delegation to Persia (Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse). After a brief introduction with details of the excavation, Scheil gave a transliteration and a free translation into French, as well as a selection of images. Editions in other languages soon followed: in Ge…
"Frame"
The relief appears to show Hammurabi standing before a seated Shamash. Shamash wears the horned crown of divinity and has a solar attribute, flames, spouting from his shoulders. Contrastingly, Scheil, in his editio princeps, identified the seated figure as Hammurabi and the standing figure as Shamash. Scheil also held that the scene showed Shamash dictating to Hammurabi whil…
Theories of purpose
The purpose and legal authority of the Code have been disputed since the mid-20th century. Theories fall into three main categories: that it is legislation, whether a code of law or a body of statutes; that it is a sort of law report, containing records of past cases and judgments; and that it is an abstract work of jurisprudence. The jurisprudence theory has gained much support within Assyriology.
Underlying principles
One principle widely accepted to underlie the Code is lex talionis, or "eye for an eye". Laws 196 and 200 respectively prescribe an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth when one man destroys another's. Punishments determined by lex talionis could be transferred to the sons of the wrongdoer. For example, law 229 states that the death of a homeowner in a house collapse necessitates the death of the house's builder. The following law 230 states that if the homeown…
Language
The laws are written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian. Their style is regular and repetitive, and today they are a standard set text for introductory Akkadian classes. However, as A. Leo Oppenheim summarises, the cuneiform signs themselves are "vertically arranged ... within boxes placed in bands side by side from right to left", an arrangement already antiquated by Hammurabi's tim…