Hammurabi's Code

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This may surprise you but the meaning of justice and punishments for not following the law do not change over time. Started in 3,500 B.C.E., the Babylonian empire was part of Mesopotamia after the Akkadian empire. One of their kings, Hammurabi, came to power 4,000 years ago. Today we know him best because he wrote a set of laws called Hammurabi's Code of Laws. We know that he is famous today for his set of laws that he wrote at around 1754 B.C.E, but not a lot of us know if Hammurabi's Code of Laws was fair so the question is: Was Hammurabi's set of laws fair to all the people of his empire? Fair means reasonable to everyone. Hammurabi's Code of Laws was fair to everyone in his empire because three sections of his Code of Laws proves that all of his laws were unbiased.
In the section of family laws in Hammurabi's Code of Laws there are clear examples that the laws were just. Laws 129, 148, 168, and 195 all support the idea that Hammurabi's Code was fair to the Babylonians. In Document C, which is all four of the laws I just mentioned; it says in Law 129 that if an espoused woman is caught having an affair with another man, they both will be tied together and thrown into the sea. I think this law is fair because doing adultery with someone is a very bad thing and deserves a harsh punishment like death. In Law 148 it states that if a man has married a woman but a disease has reached her and he wants to marry another woman, the man is allowed to marry the second woman. He is not allowed to divorce the diseased woman. The woman with the disease can live in the man's house and he has to take care of her until the woman passes away. I This law is fair because it protects the woman with the disease by making her husband take care of h...

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... there are clears examples that the laws were legitimate. Laws 196, 199, 215, and 218 all show that Hammurabi’s Code of Law’s were fair. In Law 196, it describes what happens if someone injures a free person: the person who injured the free man will get one of his eyes knocked out while Law 199 it states if someone injures a slave, then that person has to pay half of the slaves value. While Laws 196 and 199 go together, laws 209 and 213 also match up. Law 209 explains that if someone hurts the daughter of a free man and makes her lose her baby, the person who hurt the daughter has to pay 10 shekels of silver while Law 213 states that if a slave-girl is injured by a free man and loses her baby, the person who injured the slave only has to pay 2 shekels of silver which is less money than if someone hurts a daughter that is free who is also the daughter of a free man.

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