Free Essay Sample on Hammurabi Law Code

Hammurabi law code is the Babylonian code of law believed to be the most comprehensive in ancient times which included rules and recognized standards for commercial interactions and fines as punishment to meet the prerequisite of justice during the reign of Hammurabi in 1792 B.C (Nagarajan, 2011). The collection of these laws was like a list of decisions made by the judges and then rules passed by the king but something withstanding with Hammurabi's law code is that it was not given orally; it was written and very comprehensive compared to other laws. This paper will discuss how Hammurabi's approach impacted society both positively and negatively.

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The law code promoted equality, fairness, and justice in the society.According to the system, if an upper man accused another upper man of murder and brought no evidence then the accuser would be the one to be executed the same way if one was a false witness then the penalty of the accused would befall him (Nagarajan, 2011). Thus the society became streamlined, and justice would prevail with no false accusations or unfair judgments.

The Law code stimulated virtues that define humanity in society.Vices such as theft, lies, robbery, divorce were not condoned in the community.If the house of an upper class catches fire and the neighbor comes to put off the fire and steals, then he shall be thrown into the fire; This promoted honesty. If the upper man is caught committing robbery shall be executed thus discouraging theft, in case of dishonesty in a marriage, if it's the man, the lady was allowed to give back the dowry and go back to his father, and if it were the lady, she would be thrown into water promoted marriages. Thus the laws got rid of bad vices in the society.

The law code improved social, economic activities in society.This because the laws ensured harmonious trading ensued circulation of clean money. In other words, everybody gained what they worked for. The judge recognized the use of money and banking, and price controls like they decided how much should one get paid for work i.e., Doctors and builders, and contracts (Nagarajan, 2011). Therefore, the law coded impacted positively in the society's economy.

Hammurabi's law promoted slavery, and thus, a slave has not treated the same way as an upper man. If the house built falls due to poor craftsmanship and kills the son of the homeowner, the builder was to be executed, but if it died the slave, the slave would be replaced or paid. When it came to the subject of a slave and an upper man, there was no equality. Thus this was a harm to society.

Conclusion

Despite a few harms the Hammurabi's law caused in the society, it remains the best Babylonian society had during the ancient times.It is was all round and inclusive, thus.Above all, it promoted peace and unity in the, which is a real core factor.

References

Nagarajan, K. V., (2011). The code of Hammurabi: an economic interpretation. International journal of business and social science, 2(8). Retrieved From https://www.researchgate.net/publication/245536513_The_Code_of_Hammurabi_An_Economic_Interpretation