Law Code of Hammurabi and laws from the Hebrew Bible

Introduction

Hammurabi was a Mesopotamian King who came in to power in Babylonia about 1792 B.C. In the fifth year of his time in power he took the control of neighboring empires. He invaded the lands of east and south and conquered those lands. Twenty four cities were included in the kingdom of Hammurabi and he kept tight control over his kingdom with the help of strong central government. He appointed several governors, sent tax collectors, judges and military leaders in his overall kingdom. Hammurabi's one of the most important achievement was the collection of all the laws. It was a comprehensive list of laws that was carved into stone which is known as the Code of Hammurabi. The Law Code shows authority of King Hammurabi as god's appointed substitute of himself to ensure the sustainability of the society.

In contrast, there is only one God in Hebrew's belief. According to Hebrew's faith, goodness is the nature of God and he chose Hebrews as his people to live according to the sacred agreement.



Thesis Statement

Laws are made for the betterment of the society. Laws made by God are for all of his mankind but when a human makes laws; discrimination cannot be avoided.

Discussion and Analysis

Law code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi's Law code is consisted of 282 parts. Each division covers different phases of life of that time. Most of the laws were concerned about banking, business and landlord-tenant relations. This shows that commerce and trade were very important for Mesopotamian society. At that time, all people were not treated equally and slaves had very limited rights, if any. Women were the deprived members of the society and they had less freedom and rights than men. There were severe punishments (including death sometimes) for those who break the laws of Code of Hammurabi.

The Code of Laws of Hammurabi

There were several laws in the Code Law of Hammurabi, discussing limitations and prohibition of different activities of life. These laws were concerned about stealing, conduct of nobility, land tenure and contracts, marriage laws and rights of married person, crime, regulations of professions and etc. For every wrong action of a person there were very severe punishments in the Code Laws of Hammurabi.

According to the law of accusing any noble person; if the accuser failed to prove the accusation, he will be put to death. Law concerning wrong decision of judges states that; if judge issues a decision in written, and if subsequently it appears an error in his decision by his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in that case. He will be publicly deprived of his judgeship and can never hold the office for justice. Law concerning stealing states; anyone who steals what belongs to the temple or the court shall be put to death, and also the receiver of the stolen thing will be put to death. And another law about the runaway slaves declares; when someone lodges ...