The Code of Hammurabi

PROLOGUE

The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 laws made by the King Hammurabi himself. Hammurabi's code mainly addressed family, civil and criminal cases. The Code was written in an if and then (or future tense) cuneiform script and the Akkadian language. For example:

"If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death."

Here you can see that people were assumed to be innocent until proven guilty, both parties had to provide evidence. 

It was written in three parts; the first starts off with the historical prologue, the second part is the epilogue- a summary of King Hammurabi's life and third part describes the 282 laws and legal decisions concerning Babylon. There are also three classes that the population of Babylonia falls into. The code explains who the are. They are the amelu, muskinu and ardu. 

The Amelus were registered men with families who had full civil rights, who had privileges and responsibilities and could be tried for heavy punishments and fines. The King, higher officials, craftsmen, other professions or anyone could be considered this.

The Muskinus were homeless beggars, they paid small fees and fines and gave small offerings to the gods.

The Ardus were slave men, captives from war or freemen who commited a crime or couldn't pay back their debts. Ardus could aquire property and other slaves. They're looked after by their Masters and can even marry either a slave woman or a free woman. If a slave marries a free woman, his children will also be free and when that slave dies one- half of his property is passed to his Master and the other to his heir. The Ardus made up most of the population.

Besides being put to death or having an appendage chopped off, guilty parties were often told to throw themselves into the Euphrates river, if they were able to make it to the other side they were deemed not guilty and instead the accuser would be punished by most likely being put to death.

In this picture it can't exactly be seen but below the upper part of the stele are carvings etched into the slab is the Code of Hammurabi. Above you can see Hammurabi the man standing receiving the law from the enthroned sun god Shamash. 

 Back then, the people of Babylon were expected to know what their gods expected of them. 

Who was Hammurabi?

He was the king of Babylon during the late third or second millennia(1792-1750 BCE); he was the sixth king of the Amorites.

1. a member of semi-nomadic people living in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Syria in the 3rd millennium BC, founders of Mari on the Euphrates and the first dynasty of Babylon.

 He was the son of Sin-Muballit the fifth king of Bablyon and was said to succeeded the throne at a young age. The country was only made up of 4 cities when Hammurabi came to the throne(Babylon, Kish,Sippar and Borsippa) but he united the entire region of Mesopotamia(Iraq) a few decades later after the start of his rule, and during this process, overthrew many rulers.

As the new king he focused on finishing the building projects his Father had been working on during his time of rule. King Hammurabi also organized his troops and administration. He promoted the agriculture of the cities under his rule, built temples, dug canals, maintained the infrastructures of the cities under his control and made Babylon a center for trade. Hammurabi was king who payed close attention to the needs of the people and because he was often building projects was given the title "builder of the land" (or bani matim).

For his citizens,  Hammurabi came up with a collection of 282 laws and standards that his citizens would live by, near the end of his death this was carved onto a four ton slab of diorite. Today those laws have come to be known today as the Code of Hammurabi.