Babylonian Law vs. Modern Law
While few written texts exist from the Babylonian Empire of 1800 B.C documenting their
history, there are many contracts detailing their laws. Several passages even include laws and
customs. A great Babylonian King, Hammurabi, was successful in establishing a rule of
exemplary law for his Kingdom. These laws provided women with the position of being free and
dignified, protections for the weak and poor from oppression, and the establishment of a
criminal code of punishment. Many penalties for crimes were very cruel which current day law
in
the
U.S
prohibits.
Hammurabi was King of Babylonia from 1792 –18 50 B.C and believed he was chosen by the
Gods to lead the people of Babylonia. He created a societal structure ruled by laws enforced by
judges at court. Women were provided with freedoms through Hammurabi’s laws, such as
“property that the wife had had before marriage is hers for life, like property or furniture”. Also
with marriage “the husband pays the wife’s debt, she maintains her own property that she
brought into the marriage, and she is always a member of her father’s house. In the event of a
divorce the wife keeps custody of her children, and receives income from her husband until the
children
have
grown
up.”
Babylonian law also looked to protect the weak and the poor.” Slaves were allowed to own
property and even other slaves. They were allowed to bear children, who were then the
property of the master. To detain or hide a runaway slave was punishable by death, and the law
stated they had to be returned to their owners.” The uniform system of law designed by
Hammurabi allowed the elite, the common man, and the slave to work and live together in a
peaceful way protected by fair laws. In today’s society however, slavery is illegal and there are
not as defined social classes with different laws. One of the more impressive parts of
Hammurabi’s law was his idea of punishment. In the Babylonian code punishments were made
with hard evidence. “If a man were to steal, he would only be accused if the property was
found in his possession”. Punishments for crimes were “an eye for an eye, a limb for a limb, or a
tooth for a tooth”. The death penalty was freely given out for theft and other crimes, such as
“buying illegal goods from a slave, kidnapping, selling illegal goods, and causing a death of a
house owner through bad construction.” The death penalty was also set in motion for a
behavior or activity that put another person in danger of death. Current law is very restrictive in
issuing a death sentence and is relatively rare in the U.S. Hammurabi was a great Babylonian
King whose rule of law offered protections for the weak and the poor, provided women with
the position of being free and dignified, and the establishment of a criminal code of
punishment. These laws allowed the society, which consisted of people with different
backgrounds, classes, and ethnic groups to live together with fair and just laws. Over the
thousands of years the laws have significantly changed in our society. Women have the same
rights as men, there are no more slaves and death punishments are rarely used here in the
United States.