Hammurabi's Law Code

King Hammurabi

1800-1750 B.C.E.

Society is filled with chaos. No justice system whatsoever.

Purpose of law code was to have some way to punish/give justice. Law codes aren't very logical order wise.

Audience is the citizens of Mesopotamia.

Point of view is from King Hammurabi.

Only select examples from law code show bias. Ones shown may have been just the really harsh ones.

Social and family structures: Ranking was found very important, slaves and villain around same rank, women's status was low and they had little control in general. Crime was looked down upon, but it was a common problem. Accusations were often, them having a reason to accuse or not.

Harsh punishments were insisted so the possibility of someone committing the crime dwindles. If the crime did get committed, everyone would be reminded to not follow in the criminals footsteps.

Witchcraft and Gods are widely used in the document. This suggests that polytheistic beliefs were a common practice during this time-period.

Document Analysis by: Alexandra E