The Law Code of Hammurabi

• How would you define the principles of justice that underlay Hammurabi's code? In what different ways might twenty-first century observers and those living at the time of Hammurabi asses that system of justice?

The famous saying, "An eye for an eye" is most commonly used when it comes to means of revenge, but not many people know that the origins of this saying came directly from the Law Code of Hammurabi. Law 196 states, "If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out" (96). To my surprise, the law codes are actually reasonable. Before I read through the law codes, I expected that the laws for women and people of color to be extremely different from that of the ones of the white male. Not all of the laws are perfect, but most of them do give due justice to the party that was wronged. The purpose of the laws, in Hammurabi's own words were, "to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evildoers; so that the strong should not harm the weak…, to further the well-being of mankind" (95). There is not a lot written about the ruler Hammurabi in the documentary section, but his beliefs on how to run a empire are wise ones. As a young woman living in the 21st century, two laws under the Men and Women category stuck out to me. The first one was law 137, stating, "If a man wish to separate from a woman who has borne him children, then he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and propriety, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children…she may then marry the man of her heart" (97). While I do not believe that the woman should have to wait to raise her children to finally find love, the act of the man giving her a part of his possessions, is essentially the beginnings of child support. Though people today find it hard to get their exes to pay child support, the point of it is still great. Another law that I really liked, but found surprising is law 148. "If a man take a wife and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second wife, he shall not put away his wife who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives" (97). I was surprised by this rule, because there is no rule in this century that is equivalent to it. This rule really looks out for the woman. I wish we had more rules that took care of women today. Besides the laws about the slaves and some about drowning yourself when cheating, these laws are not much different from the ones we have today. Sometimes I do believe in the "eye for an eye" tactic. To me some crimes just do not fit the punishment.  I respect Hammurabi and his decisions to give justice that was fair and equal for almost every member in his society.