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Code of Hammurabi

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{{Inble URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3153895</ref> as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.[1]

Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract, establishing, for example, the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction, establishing the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, for example, or property that is damaged while left in the care of another. A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family relationships such as inheritance, divorce, paternity and sexual behavior. Only one provision appears to impose obligations on an official; this provision establishes that a judge who reaches an incorrect decision is to be fined and removed from the bench permanently.[2] A handful of provisions address issues related to military service.

One nearly complete example of the Code survives today, on a diorite stele in the shape of a huge index finger,[3] 2.25-metre (7.4 ft) tall (see images at right). The Code is inscribed in the Akkadian language, using cuneiform script carved into the stele. It is currently on display in The Louvre, with exact replicas in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, the library of the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Dutch: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken) in The Netherlands, the Pergamon Museum of Berlin and the National Museum of Iran in Tehran.

History

Code on clay tablet
Code on diorite stele

Hammurabi ruled for nearly 43 years, ca. 1792 to 1750 BC according to the Middle chronology. In the preface to the law code, he states, "Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared Marduk, the chief god of Babylon (The Human Record, Andrea & Overfield 2005), to bring about the rule in the land."[4] On the stone slab there are 44 columns and 28 paragraphs that contained over 282 laws.[5]

In 1901, Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier, a member of an expedition headed by Jacques de Morgan, found the stele containing the Code of Hammurabi in what is now Khūzestān, Iran (ancient Susa, Elam), where it had been taken as plunder by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte in the 12th century BC.

Law

Main article: Babylonian law

The Code of Hammurabi was one of several sets of laws in the ancient Near East.[6] The code of laws was arranged in orderly groups, so that everyone who read the laws would know what was required of them.[7] Earlier collections of laws include the Code of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (ca. 2050 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (ca. 1930 BC) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (ca. 1870 BC), while later ones include the Hittite laws, the Assyrian laws, and Mosaic Law.[8] These codes come from similar cultures in a relatively small geographical area, and they have passages which resemble each other.[9]

Figures at top of stele "fingernail" above Hammurabi's code of laws.

The Code of Hammurabi is the longest surviving text from the Old Babylonian period.[10] The code has been seen as an early example of a fundamental law regulating a government — i.e., a primitive constitution.[11][12] The code is also one of the earliest examples of the idea of presumption of innocence, and it also suggests that both the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide evidence.[13] The occasional nature of many provisions suggests that the Code may be better understood as a codification of Hammurabi's supplementary judicial decisions, and that, by memorializing his wisdom and justice, its purpose may have been the self-glorification of Hammurabi rather than a modern legal code or constitution. However, its copying in subsequent generations indicates that it was used as a model of legal and judicial reasoning.[14]

Other copies

Hammurabi stele at American Museum of Natural History, New York, 2012

Various copies of portions of the Co Prologue of the Co

  • Laws
  • Food

One of the most well known of Hammurabi's laws is:

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.[15]

Hammurabi had many other punishments as well. If a boy struck his father they would cut off the boy's hand or fingers (translations vary).[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gabriele Bartz, Eberhard König, (Arts and Architecture), Könemann, Köln, (2005), ISBN 3-8331-1943-8. The laws were based with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye" depending on social status.
  2. ^ http://www.commonlaw.com/Hammurabi.html Code of Hammurabi
  3. ^ Iconographic Evidence for Some Mesopotamian Cult Statues, Dominique Collon, Die Welt der Götterbilder, Edited by Groneberg, Brigitte; , Spieckermann, Hermann; , and Weiershäuser, Frauke, Berlin, New York (Walter de Gruyter) 2007 Pages 57–84
  4. ^ Edited by Richard Hooker; Translated by L.W King (1996). "Mesopotamia: The Code of Hammurabi". Washington State University. Retrieved 14 September 2007. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Hammurabi's Code" [1], Think Quest, retrieved on 2 Nov 2011.
  6. ^ L. W. King (2005). "The Code of Hammurabi: Translated by L. W. King". Yale University. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  7. ^ "The Code of Hammurabi: Introduction," [2], Ancient History Sourcebook, March 1998, retrieved on 2 November 2011.
  8. ^ Barton, G.A: Archaeology and the Bible. University of Michigan Library, 2009, (originally published in 1916 by American Sunday-School Union) p.406.
  9. ^ Barton 2009, p.406. Barton, a scientisr of Semitic languages at the University of Pennsylvania from 1922 to 1931, stated that while there are similarities between the Mosaic Law and the Code of Hammurabi, a study of the entirety of both laws "convinces the student that the laws of the Old Testament are in no essential way dependent upon the Babylonian laws." He states that "such resemblances" arose from "a similarity of antecedents and of general intellectual outlook" between the two cultures, but that "the striking differences show that there was no direct borrowing."
  10. ^ "The Code of Hammurabi," [3], The History Guide, 3 August 2009, Retrieved on 2 November 2011.
  11. ^ What is a Constitution? William David Thomas, Gareth Stevens (2008) p. 8
  12. ^ Flach, Jacques. Le Code de Hammourabi et la constitution originaire de la propriete dans l'ancienne Chaldee. (Revue historique. Paris, 1907. 8. v. 94, p. 272-289.
  13. ^ Victimology:Theories and Applications, Ann Wolbert Burgess, Albert R. Roberts, Cheryl Regehr,Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009, p. 103
  14. ^ For this alternative interpretation see Jean Bottéro, "The 'Code' of Hammurabi" in Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning and the Gods (University of Chicago, 1992), pp. 156–184.
  15. ^ a b Translated by L. W. King, Hammurabi's Code of Laws, Hammurabi's Code of Laws
  16. ^ Translated by L. W. King, Hammurabi's Code of Laws, The Code of Hammurabi King of Babylon by Robert Francis Harper (PDF)

Bibliography

  • Driver, G.R. & J.C. Miles (2007). The Babylonian Laws. Eugene: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 1-55635-229-8.
  • Roth, Martha T. (1997). Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Atlanta: Scholars Press. ISBN 0-7885-0378-2.
  • Bryant, Tamera (2005). The Life & Times of Hammurabi. Bear: Mitchell Lane Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58415-338-2.
  • Mieroop, Marc (2004). King Hammurabi of Babylon: a Biography. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4051-2660-1.
  • Hammurabi, King (2000). The Oldest Code of Laws in the World. City: Lawbook Exchange Ltd. ISBN 978-1-58477-061-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Falkenstein, A. (1956–57). Die neusumerischen Gerichtsurkunden I–III. München.
  • Elsen-Novák, G./Novák, M.: Der 'König der Gerechtigkeit'. Zur Ikonologie und Teleologie des 'Codex' Hammurapi. In: Baghdader Mitteilungen 37 (2006), pp. 131–156.
  • Julius Oppert and Joachim Menant (1877). Documents juridiques de l'Assyrie et de la Chaldee. París.
  • Thomas, D. Winton, ed. (1958). Documents from Old Testament Times. London and New York.
  • Beck, Roger B. (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

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