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| − | Return to [[History 8 Mesopotamia Part 1]]
| + | Back to [['''History 8 Mesopotamia Questions'']] |
| − | ==The Law Stone==
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| − | Hammurabi was a king of the Babylon empire between 1792-50 B.C. who created 282 laws inscribed on an upright stone pillar made from black diorate around seven meters tall. <ref>http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp</ref> While so far, few examples have been found, it is believed that many of these existed in prominent temples of large cities. Inscribed on them are laws which control everything from homicide to taxes. Hammurabi claims the rights to create these laws were given to him by the gods themselves.
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| − | https://profpayne.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/hammur1.jpg
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| − | <ref>https://sites.google.com/site/earlycivilizationsoftheworld/mesopotamia-fertile-crescent/hammurabi-s-code</ref>
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| − | http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/05_World-Cultures/02_Ancient-Civilization/pictures/Babylonian-boundary-stone.jpg<ref>http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/05_World-Cultures/02_Ancient-Civilization/02a_Mesopotamia.htm</ref>
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| − | ==Reasons for Creation==
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| − | Hammurabi wished to be known as a fair and just leader, exemplified by the prologue to his laws where he portrays himself as god blessed to create peace and unity. <ref>http://www2.sjs.org/beniretto/Mesopotamia/prologue.html</ref> Some of the laws were required to protect the state and unify his kingdom as well. Most importantly, by being written, the laws were literally set in stone and could not be changed by any scheming official. They were also one of the first publicly announced laws which any citizen could examine to assure themselves of their rights.
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| − | ==The Law==
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| − | Babylon was forced to deal with the poblems of a complex society, creating previously unthought of laws dealing with crimes against the state. While these laws are often thought of as an "eye for an eye," this was rarely true. In fact, these laws were very harsh and unequal with the death penalty being prescribed for a certain action no less than thirty times according to professor Marc van de Mieroop. The laws consist of a potential case followed by a prescribed verdict. However, the verdicts change depending on the social class of the accussed and prosecutor. Furthermore professor Mieroop translates, “If a member of the elite strike the cheek of a member of the elite who is of a higher social status than him, he shall be flogged in public with 60 strikes of an ox-whip,” reads one law. Yet a member of the elite would merely have to pay two silver shekels for killing a slave. <ref>Owen Jarus http://www.livescience.com/39393-code-of-hammurabi.html</ref> Hammurabi collected these laws from the existing laws in the conquered city-states and edited or removed them as he saw fit. <ref>http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp</ref>
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| − | ==A New System==
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| − | Hammurabi's law also forced involved committees to select men to act as judges in Hammurabi's place, since he could not oversee all cases because he ruled a vast empire. Besides creating community selected judges, Hammurabi also implemented the idea that prosecutors unable to substantiate others guilt shall be punished. <ref>http://www.livescience.com/39393-code-of-hammurabi.html</ref>
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| − | ==Meaning in Today's World==
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| − | While many laws were preceded by Ur by at least three centuries, Hammurabi added many new laws that dealed with controlling a vast empire. Hammurabi, it appears, drew on previous cases he had ruled on to create these laws. <ref>http://www.livescience.com/39393-code-of-hammurabi.html</ref> Hammurabi planned to create these laws to unify the many city-states he conquered under his empire. In the end, many of his laws ended up being progressive for civil rights.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | Created by Joshua Tsai
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| − | Class Notes(March 3, 2015)
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| − | <references>
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