Hammurabi Code Short Paper

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The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest forms of government and legal code. It is stated that God has sent this code down to Earth for Hammurabi to impose on the people. It was brought in order to bring “the rule of righteousness in the land” rid it of all types of wickedness. At the time Babylon was an empire that had gained success through getting other city-states in Mesopotamia. This Code gave Hammurabi authority over Babylon in terms of religious, political, and economic assets.
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These laws exhibit the development civilization have gone through over the years, with different revolutions like technological, domestication of animals, and development of language. The laws clarified the terms of commercial activity, social structure, and gender relationships in Mesopotamian society.
Commercial activity was crucial in societies at the time and currently. Some societies had commercial activity on a larger scale than others. Before Neanderthals, we had not developed much as a species. Professor Carnie’s lecture of “Human Origins & the Great Leap Forward” he discussed homo erectus had just learned to walk upright and our development of tools was not very advanced nor sophisticated.

But as Neanderthals we had developed much more, with brain sizes about 10% larger than homo sapiens. Had advanced our societies with the discovery of fire, stone tools, and care of old and sick. With all this we became better hunters therefore allowing us to gain more food and live longer or reproduce more. Technological revolution included a larger variety of tools including bone tools, halved tools and needles in order to fish.

Through all these innovations we have been able to advance in food storage and clothing as well. But all this started with the Great Leap Forward as without this we would not have advanced to Paleolithic band societies and later sedentary societies. In Paleolithic Band societies it is crucial for everyone to contribute to each other, share, and not have a surplus. There was not activity happening outside of the society but all the of the members were helping each other and providing what the other needed. They had specific tasks as to what they needed to find and provide for the other members like food. An important commercial exchange item will be food in the future. But none of that would be possible without the move from nomadic societies to settled, with becoming sedentary societies they were able to flourish and grow. As stated in professor Carnie’s lecture “The Development of Agriculture” societies learned new techniques such as farming which led to the agricultural revolution and domestication of animals. The Code of Hammurabi shows a shift in our society from small to complex.
Previously we did not have many animals to help, but with domestication, we were able to have more involvement of animals in our lives. Without the increase in farming techniques which then lead to the agricultural revolution we would not have the laws given in the code of laws. Diamond shows in figure 4.1 the journey we had to take in order to get to the proximate factors, guns, germs and steel. The domestication and spread of species did not happen all in one step. There was first the “ease of species spreading”, then domestication which led to the surplus of food, which allowed us to have “large, dense, sedentary, stratified societies” as there was more for people to eat, which then lastly allowed for us to have advancements in trade, technology, politics and diseases. Hammurabi’s code shows the importance and evidence rise of agriculture and domestication of animals in the Babylonian society. There are over 10 laws that specify the rules in terms of animals. Law #244 states “If any one hire an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, the loss is upon its owner.”. Specifying how the payment must be made on this.
This isn’t such a big law in terms of society at the time. But if you view the continuity over time which has occurred you can see the importance. There wasn’t even the idea of owning animals few thousand years ago but by 1700 BCE it is of enough importance to get a law. Societies changed from small to sophisticated by using the sources they had like animals, to their own advantage by making help carry items, eat, or help in hunting. Commercial activity during the Babylonian Empire also included the trade of gold. Law #122 discusses the way one must acquire gold and the process. Showing the historical change in humans, in paleolithic band societies, there wasn’t an idea of one having more or accessories. In Babylonian empire there is aquiry of “gold, sliver, or anything else to keep” can see the shift in society how it is now norm to gather and show off wealth to others. Complex societies are more materialistic and care more about self gain instead of a collective good. In order to deal with this shift it is important to set laws and regulations as to what is ok and what is not for buying or exchange of commercial goods. This will also play into social structure of how the more items and possessions one has the higher post they are at. Laws of commercial activity seems insignificant when reading the finished product but the journey taken in order to get there is long and complex.
Most societies started off equal with no social classes but over time with the accumulation of power and accessories a social structure was developed. The great leap forward brought more advancements in society and culture. There was more sophistication in things like family life and religion. This came due to “cognitive leap” more development in our mind as stated in Professor Carnie’s “Human Origins & the Great Leap Forward Lecture”. Homo sapien sapiens were living in paleolithic band societies in which all is equal, everyone is helping everyone, and sharing is happening all around. No social structure in terms of higher and lower class was established during the nomadic era. Hammurabi has lots of social structure shown in his code of laws, but the question to ask is how did we get from a society with no structure to a defined social structure. Human societies before 12,000 BP were not patricharical nor matriarchal just equal. But slowly even in band societies, it becomes crucial for there to be leadership. Hammurabi’s code of law depicts that if one wrongs a person of higher post there will be large repercussions.
While if someone of higher post wrongs a slave or artisan he will just have to pay a fine. Law #200 states “If anyone strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public”. There was a large amount of distinction within people as there were different punishments for each class. Social rank depicts how the Mesopotamian society had a very structured society and the lawmakers wanted certain groups to gain an advantage over others. This shows that in complex society there is more corruption as the lawmakers work to put themselves and people like them first. By making wealthier people less accountable for their consequences it is helping the lawmakers out and allowing the wealthy to stay in power. Diamond gives a viewpoint of the 3 characteristics of social structure in terms of animals “they live in herds; they maintain a well-developed dominance hierarchy among herd members; and the herds occupy overlapping home ranges rather than mutually exclusive territories” (Diamond, 172). Even in animal life there are certain social distinctions present. Social structure has developed over time and became a large part of society in Babylon and currently.
In most cultures, males are the more dominant gender, but there was an evolution of gender relationships that led to this result. Most nomadic societies did not exist with gender-specific responsibilities. All were viewed as being equal, it was not patriarchy or matriarchy. In band societies, male did the hunting while females did the gathering. Most would assume the male job was harder as they were bringing the meat and the animal. But in Professor Carnie’s lecture “How Human Beings Peopled the Plant” he states that males only brought 30% of the food for the people and the females who did the gathering brought 70% of the food. In this society, it was not male-dominated but women were valued and appreciated. But this starts showing a depiction of masculinity early on and how using one’s hands aggressively gives more value this will feed into future societies. Law #129 in Code of Hammurabi it is states that “If a man’s wife be surprised with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves”.
The lack of freedom and choice that was given to women depicts the historical change we went through from women being equally valued members of society and being viewed as capable to being treated as property. The law states that if a wife is seen with another man the other man and herself must be killed but later on another law states that if a man does the same he must give the wife the dowry back and can do so. The dowry which will most likely be given to the wife’s father so in no way is the female gaining from any situation. This change over time of how there was first full equality and freedom for women to work and take care of themselves to a society in which there are so many restrictions over a women in marriage and in life in general. This shows that in a complex society one of the gender must be suppressed in order for their to be balance. Historically with the more shift from a small society to complex the rights of women and choices have been taken away. Slowly from nomadic societies to societies in the Babylonian Empire you can see that change over time. Men were praised more for their accomplishments over time.
Code of Hammurabi shows the change over time civilizations have gone through. By showing the final result of the code of laws for the Empire of Babylon we are able to see the shift in societies from small to complex. We began we societies that did not have the idea of gaining items and having possession of accessories to one that has laws stating how a transaction of gold must go through. Paleolithic Band Societies had equality for all the members, no one above another person. But with change there is an established and strong social structure in Babylonian Empire with social classes. The code of laws states different types of punishment for people of different classes. Lastly with the shift from small to “sophisticated” societies we have established gender roles. Egalitarian societies had no division in gender but with change overtime males became more dominant in the eyes of society therefore then granting them power. The code of laws has laws stating the consequences woman must face for doing a wrong is death while the male must just pay. Evolution of woman being valued to being looked at as property. The idea of righteousness and justice that Hammurabi is imposing is not truly righteous as after analyzing this document it is evident that he just wanted to do whatever was “right” that will help people of more wealth and himself. To finish of The Code of Hammurabi depicts change that has occured from society to society.

Otis Curtis

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