The Code of Hammurabi

Development of Laws

• A civilization needs laws. 
• The first set of written laws that we know a lot about is called the “Code of Hammurabi.” 
• King Hammurabi came up with a set of laws for his people to follow. 
• The rules had very strict and harsh consequences. 
• The laws became known as the “Eye for an Eye” laws because the consequence would often fit the crime.  

Babylonian Reign of Hammurabi

• He wisely took all the laws of the region’s city-states and unified them into one code. 
  • This helped unify the region.  
•  Engraved in stone, erected all over the empire.
•  His act set an important precedent – idea that the government was responsible for what occurred in society.

Situations Hammurabi Faced

• What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner? 
• What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband? 
• What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink? 
• What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back? 
• What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts? 
• What should happen to a boy who slaps his father? 
• What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
• How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
• What should be done if a wild bull in his charge has gored a man and caused him to die and then run away?

Case #1

• What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
  • If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction sound, and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death.

Case #2

• What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
  • If the woman has not been careful but has gadded about, neglecting her house and belittling her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water.

Case #3

• What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
  • If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living in a convent opens a wine shop or enters a wine shop for a drink, they shall burn that woman.

Case #4

• What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
  • If a man takes in his own home a young boy as a son and rears him, one may not bring claim for that adopted son.

Case #5

• What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
  • If a man be in debt and is unable to pay his creditors, he shall sell his wife, son, or daughter, or bind them over to service. For three years they shall work in the houses of their purchaser or master; in the fourth year they shall be given their freedom.

Case #6

• What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
  • If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand.

Case #7

• What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
  • If bad characters gather in the house of a wine seller and she does not arrest those characters and bring them to the palace, that wine seller shall be put to death.

Case #8

• How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
  • If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.

Case #9

• What should be done if a wild bull in his charge has gored a man and caused him to die and then run away?
  • That case has no remedy