Was Hammurabi’s Code Fair: a Study of Family, Behavior, and Property Laws

Hammurabi’s Legacy and Governance

We analyze the cruelty in Hammurabi’s laws, but is it fair to label them as inhumane? Hammurabi was the monarch of Babylon, which was a city-state and capital of what was the kingdom of Babylonia. He ruled for 42 years which was 4,000 years ago. To build his kingdom, he fought and conquered much of Mesopotamia. During his rule, he created a set of 282 laws which he believed the gods instructed him to create. These laws were called Hammurabi’s Code.

Hammurabi used these laws to govern his people. Was Hammurabi’s Code Fair or Unfair? Fairness in Hammurabi’s Code can be proven in the areas of family, behavior, and land/property. Hammurabi’s code was fair to Society, the victims, and the accused.

Family and Behavior Laws in Hammurabi’s Code

To begin with, Hammurabi’s code could be seen as fair in many ways by laws that were in the area of family and behavior. Law 148 states, “If a man has married a wife and a disease has seized her, if he is determined to marry a second wife, he shall marry her. He shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seized, …and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.” (Document C) This is fair to the victim because she got to be with her husband. She also was able to be taken care of instead of being thrown out of her house. It is fair to the accused because he got to marry another wife; it’s just that he had to take care of his first wife. It is fair to Society because if the sick wife was being taken care of, they wouldn’t have to be bothered by her asking for money or getting everyone sick. Also, law 168 Document C states, “If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge,… if the son has not committed a grave misdemeanor, … the father shall not disinherit his son” (Document C) In this example, it was fair to the accused (the son) because he didn’t get disowned by his father and still gets to live with them. It is fair to Society because they wouldn’t have as many orphan boys wandering around and bothering everyone as if this law didn’t exist. Although Hammurabi’s code can be proven fair by this paragraph, there are more ways to prove this code fair.

Property and Land Laws in Hammurabi’s Code

In addition to the first paragraph, Hammurabi’s code could be proven fair by laws that were in the area of property/land. In law 48 it states, “If a man has borrowed money to plant his fields and a storm has flooded his field or carried away the crop, … in that year he does not have to pay his creditor.” (Document D) This was fair to the victim (the creditor) because he still would be able to get his money back, just not that year. Adding to that statement, he shouldn’t have been loaning money in the first place if he didn’t have any. This was fair to the accused ( the borrower) because he got another year to pay his creditor. It wasn’t his fault that the flood happened. Therefore, he deserved to have that opportunity. Also, law 53, 54 states, “If a man has opened his trench for irrigation and the waters have flooded his neighbor’s field, the man must restore the crop he has caused to be lost.” (Document D) This is fair to the victim (the neighbor) because his neighbor caused some of his fields to be flooded, so it was fair that his neighbor had to restore everything that he had lost. It was fair to the accused because he created the flood, so he should be the one that restored everything that the flood destroyed. Lastly, It is fair to Society because they could have fewer people that were in need of food because their crops and fields were getting destroyed. This proves it fair because if the people who got their plants and fields destroyed didn’t get what they lost repaired, they would switch to different jobs, and not so many people would farm. But, because of this law, they would have everything that was destroyed repaired so that they could continue their farming. Like the first paragraph, both of these laws could prove Hammurabi’s Code fair, but there’s still room for more reasons.

Accessibility and Transparency of Hammurabi’s Code

Furthermore, Hammurabi’s code could be determined fair by text from the document and textbook that were under all the areas; family, behavior, and land/property all at once. In the textbook, page 75, it states, “Hammurabi’s code was important not only because of how thorough it was, but because it was written down for all to see.” Another piece of evidence is in paragraph 1 of Document B, which states, “I set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone.” This is fair to the victim because they would be able to know what they would gain if they were a victim of someone breaking the law; all they had to do was look at the Steles. This is fair to the accused because before they broke the law, they could have looked at the Steles and known what the laws were before they broke any of them. They also could have looked at the Steles and would have known what the consequences were for any of the laws they broke. This is fair to Society because, from the Steles, they wouldn’t have to argue over what the laws were and what the consequences were.

Was Hammurabi’s Code Fair?

The question that was asked in this DBQ is, was Hammurabi’s code fair or unfair? As you can tell, some people have different opinions and think that Hammurabi’s code was unfair. An example of one of the reasons he might use to prove the unjustness of his laws is that the punishments were too cruel. But, in my defense, Hammurabi’s Code improved the lives of many people. My first examples are the wife couldn’t be forced out of her home and that the son couldn’t be disowned if he didn’t do anything wrong in his past. These laws would have improved the lives of the wife, the son, and Society. My second example is if a man got his field destroyed by a flood, he didn’t have to pay his creditor that year, and if a man destroyed his neighbor’s field because of his irrigation system, he would have to restore his neighbor’s field. This would improve the life of the borrower and the neighbor. My final example was the laws were written down for everyone to see. This could improve the lives of the accused and Society. 

References:

1. The Code of Hammurabi.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, www.ancient.eu/Code_of_Hammurabi/.
2. “The Code of Hammurabi: Introduction.” Avalon Project – Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp.
3. “Document C: Hammurabi’s Code Laws 148 and 168.” The DBQ Project, 2021, dbqproject.com/mini-q/hammurabis-code-should-we-follow-it/document-c/.
4. “Document D: Hammurabi’s Code Laws 48, 53, and 54.” The DBQ Project, 2021, dbqproject.com/mini-q/hammurabis-code-should-we-follow-it/document-d/.
5. “The Code of Hammurabi.” World History Encyclopedia, www.worldhistory.org/article/115/the-code-of-hammurabi/.
6. “Document B: Hammurabi’s Code – Was It Just?” The DBQ Project, 2021, dbqproject.com/mini-q/hammurabis-code-should-we-follow-it/document-b/.
7. “Textbook Excerpt: Hammurabi’s Code.” The DBQ Project, 2021, dbqproject.com/mini-q/hammurabis-code-should-we-follow-it/textbook-excerpt/.

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