A Deep Dive into the Code of Hammurabi: Laws, Justice, and Society

This essay provides an analysis of the Code of Hammurabi, examining its laws and their potential relevance to contemporary society. The author focuses on three key laws: the "eye for an eye" principle, the regulation of surgeon's fees based on social class, and construction laws ensuring building safety. The essay discusses the significance of these laws in terms of fairness, righteousness, and social equality, while also acknowledging the code's harsh punishments, which often varied based on the victim's and offender's social status. Furthermore, it highlights specific laws considered particularly severe and reflects on the social hierarchy of ancient Babylonia, including the legal protections afforded to women and the professional and contractual obligations of individuals. The essay concludes by emphasizing the code's impact on understanding ancient legal systems and their influence on modern concepts of justice.

Running head: CODE OF HAMMURABI 1
. Code of Hammurabi
Name
Institution

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Code of Hammurabi
To me, there were varieties of laws in Hammurabi code that may be useful today. The
three laws that were significant to the code of Hammurabi and can be important to our society of
today are as follow. First of all, there is the law of the eye for an eye. This law indeed remains
one of the most famous laws in Hammurabi's code. It states how if an individual removes the eye
of another person in his class, he shall be subjected to the same act (Abulhab, 2017). Today, this
law can be very important because it represents the fairness, righteousness, and equality of our
laws. The second law that can be essential today is the law that talks of surgeon fixing the eye of
an individual. This law explains how surgeons are to be paid for the services which they offer to
the people. It argues that the payments of the services done by the surgeons are to vary
depending on the class of an individual. For instance, the upperclassman should pay a higher
amount than the lower classman (Johns, 2018). To me, this law is quite essential because it
favors the poor people who are unable to access expensive services in most of our hospitals.
Another law that can be very important today is the construction law that states that if a
constructor constructs a house for an individual and does not make its building firm, a
constructor shall be put to death if in case the house which he was building collapses and kill the
owner of the house. Today, this law can help because it will ensure that a constructor created
safe homes.
All these laws indeed varied according to gender and social class. The code of
Hammurabi took a vicious approach to justice; however, the sternness of criminal penalties
usually depended on the identity of the victim and lawbreaker (Zohair & Costanza, 2017). For
instance, the law that commanded that if an individual knocks out the teeth of another person,

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his/her teeth will be knocked out. When this same crime is committed against any member of a
lower class, the punishment was only a fine.
The three laws which I believe are two harsh include: First is the law that states that if a
son beat his father, they will cut off his finger. The second harsh law is the law that says that if
an individual brings an accusation of crime before the elders, and she does not prove what she
has charged, she will be put to death if the charge was a capital offense (Dunbar, 2018). The last
harsh law is the law that states that if the slave of a freedman beat the body of the freedman,
his/her ear will be cut off.
The code of Hammurabi tells us that there remained a social pecking order more so in
ancient Babylonia wherein nobles ranked above slaves and freedmen. These laws indicate that
females had legal protection in the society of Babylonian. Also, the Hammurabi’s code suggests
that individuals had professional as well as contractual duties.

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References
Abulhab, S. D. (2017). The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated
from Its Early Classical Arabic Language. Blautopf Publishing.
Dunbar, G. (2018). Codifying Discrimination: The Status of Women, Slaves and Freedmen in
the Ancient Near East. Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History, 8(1), 84-89.
Johns, C. H. W. (2018). The Relations between the Laws of Babylonia and the Laws of the
Hebrew Peoples. BoD–Books on Demand.
Zohair Husain, M., & Costanza, S. E. (2017). Code of H ammurabi. The Encyclopedia of
Corrections, 1-4.