The Code of Hammurabi (Essay Sample)

“THE CODE OF HAMMURABI”
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“The Code of Hammurabi”
Human societies and civilizations have greatly depended on rules and codes to guide interactions among their members. It is common knowledge that humans are complex beings because of opposing interests that have existed throughout history. Therefore, codes come in to help harmonize the variations in interests while keeping these conflicting interest within a level that is commonly accepted by affiliates of the society. That having been mentioned, the ‘Code of Hammurabi,’ as one of the oldest and most complete legal guide to human behavior, traces back its origin to 1792 B.C. Believed to have been written by Babylonian King Hammurabi, the code stretched the Babylonian city-state along River Euphrates with a motive of bringing about the unity to all people of Southern Mesopotamia. Therefore, the code of laws was intended to the Babylonians who occupied the whole of Southern Mesopotamia. Ideally, as an amalgamation of 282 rules, the ‘Code of Hammurabi’ established punishments and fines to meet the needs of justice and also presented standards that governed commercial interactions.[History.com, "Code of Hammurabi," HISTORY, last modified November 9, 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hammurabi.]
Strictly speaking, the purpose of the ‘Code of Hammurabi’ was satisfying legal requirements of the Hammurabi’s kingdom by laying emphasis on the significance of paying damage and doing justice. At the same time, the Code of Hammurabi’ was meant to play an essential role in giving people of Hammurabi kingdom the moral standards while establishing distinct social classes, as well as creating equality. Regardless, the code tells a lot about the daily lives and values of the people of ancient Mesopotamia. For instance, the ‘Code of Hammurabi’ tells the existence of pecking order in ancient Mesopotamia. Ideally, this order ranked the nobles above slaves and freedmen. Another example is that the code illustrates the legal protection awarded to women in Babylonian civilization. At the same time, the code tells that people possessed contractual and professional duties in ancient Mesopotamia. Ideas and values change across civilizations, and as opposed to the ancient Mesopotamia, modern values have taken a new turn. For instance, values and ideas expressed in modern laws differ from those in the ‘Code of Hammurabi’ in significant ways. That is to say, unlike modern laws, in ancient Mesopotamia, the victim’s gender and social status determined the level of punishment. Ideally, while injuring a noble, free person, or man would attract comparatively severe punishment, the same is not true when a victim is a poor person, slave, or woman.[Kathryn E. Slanski, "The Law of Hammurabi and Its Audience," Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities