Fairness of the Just Rule of Hammurabi

Picture this, it is 1790 BCE and you live in Babylonia under the just rule of Hammurabi. Your town is full green crops and farmland, people like slaves, landowners, and free men with no land, and the most important thing, black stone Steele for all to see. The Steele shows the rules of the land. Many people surround the Steele to read to find out about different and their punishments. The black Steele contains Hammurabi’s code, but was it just or unjust? It was a just list of laws because it was fair to the victim, fair to the accused, and fair to the society.

Although one may argue that Hammurabi’s code was unjust, one reason that it is just is that it is fair to the victim. Evidence that supports this idea can be found in doc B, the Epilogue. The Epilogue states “Hammurabi’s the protect king, am I. That the strong injure the weak in order to protect the widows and orphans…” This shows that Hammurabi wanted to enforce rules that protected the widows, the orphans, and the weak, who are all less fortunate members. Protecting the weak is a good thing, because they may not have protection if a law is not in place. Another piece of evidence that supports the idea that Hammurabi’s Code was fair to the victim can be found in Doc D, Personal Injury Law.

Law 196 states that “ If a man knocks out the eye of another man then his eyes shall be knocked out.” This law shows that there would be consequences if the man does something bad to another man. This helps the victim by sharing his pain with his pain with his injurer. Protect the victim is not the only way that Hammurabi’s code was just. It also protected the accused. In addition to the idea that Hammurabi’s code was fair to the victim, it is also fair to the accused. Some evidence support that this you can find in Doc E. Document E states “ It a man has knocked out the eye of a slave… He shall pay half his value.”** This shows that the accused they are being treated fairly because slaves are not treated as equals, so he should not have his eye knocked out. This is good because if the man who knocked the slave’s eye got his eye knocked out then slaves would seem on the same level as free men.

Another thing that supports the idea that Hammurabi’s Code was just to the accused can be found in Doc E. Document E states “If a surgeon has operated with a lancet of bronze and saves the man’s life he shall take 10 shekels of silver. This shows that the Doctor is being treated fairly because he receives a reward for saving the man’s life. If this happened more people would want to become a doctor and there would be more people to take care of you. But Hammurabi’s Code was also just to society.In addition to the idea that Hammurabi’s code was fair to the victim, it is also fair to the accused. Some evidence support that this you can find in Doc E. Document E states “ It a man has knocked out the eye of a slave… He shall pay half his value.”

This shows that the accused they are being treated fairly because slaves are not treated as equals, so he should not have his eye knocked out. This is good because if the man who knocked the slave’s eye got his eye knocked out then slaves would seem on the same level as free men. Another thing that supports the idea that Hammurabi’s Code was just to the accused can be found in Doc E. Document E states “If a surgeon has operated with a lancet of bronze and saves the man’s life he shall take 10 shekels of silver. This shows that the Doctor is being treated fairly because he receives a reward for saving the man’s life. If this happened more people would want to become a doctor and there would be more people to take care of you. But Hammurabi’s Code was also just to society.

Some people may see Hammurabi’s Code as unfair: for example cutting off a doctor’s hand because he made a mistake, this may seem harsh.However in general, even if the rules are to harsh, they are set to keep people in line. They encourage people to be more careful and they teach people that there are 3 coniquesis for their actions. Hammurabi’s was just, because it was to the accused, the victim, and society.It did after all influence are laws today, and if they did not find the code fair , would them have used it has a model.

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