Hammurabi's Code

Paper Summary:

This paper details Hammurabi's Code and how it covers many of the ills Mesopotamian society faced in the 17th Century BC. It gives several examples of his laws and quotes them and then analyzes and explains them. It details the historical and social situation in Mesopotamia at the time.

From the Paper:

"When interpreting Hammurabi's Code, one must do so with the full conviction that these laws were created as a response to actions that were taking place in everyday Mesopotamian society. While Hammurabi's Code was not the first set of laws, his organization and interpretation of previous laws covers many of the ills Mesopotamian society faced in the 17th Century BC. For example, Hammurabi's law number 53 says "If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined" (King). From that it can be assumed that there was a problem in Mesopotamian society with abandoned or poorly maintained irrigation ducts. However, to truly gain an understanding of Mesopotamia in the 17th Century BC, one should take a closer look at the penalties rather than the laws themselves."

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