Preview

Hammurabi Dbq Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
875 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hammurabi Dbq Essay
“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found against the wrong” (Theodore Roosevelt). To start off let’s talk about Hammurabi, a king not many people knew about. Thanks to clay writing tablets found by archaeologist, we know some things about him. Some things we know about Hammurabi is that he was a king for 42 years! In addition to that he was a king of a city-state in Mesopotamia called Babylon. Something else about Hammurabi is that he took power in 1792 BCE. Hammurabi also developed a code consisting of an astonishing 282 laws. My paper will answer the question, “Was Hammurabi’s Code fair?” There are three areas of law in Hammurabi’s Code which can be proven to be just. These three areas of law are family law, personal injury law, and property law.
This takes us to our first area of law, family law. Examples of justice can be first found in family law. If you take a look at document c, law 168, which reads, “If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge, “I cut off my son,” the judge shall inquire
…show more content…
First is law 23 in document d. This law states, “If the robber is not caught, the man who has been robbed shall formally declare what he has lost before a god, and the city, and the mayor in whose territory or district the robbery has been committed shall replace for him whatever has been lost.” I believe this law is just because a mayor should show pride in their city, territory, or district and give back to citizens in which their duties have failed. This brings us to law 53, 54 in document d. The code reads, “If a man has opened his trench for irrigation and the waters have flooded his neighbor’s field, the man must restore the crops he has caused to be lost.” This law is definitely fair because it has a very simple concept, what you ruin or cause to be lost you replace or pay

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hammurabi DBQ

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examples of just laws can first be found in the area of property law. Document D says…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another other law is Property law, Property law is where if a man's house has been broken into to be robbed and if is not caught the man who has been…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hammurabi Dbq

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Do you know who was the king of Babylon and what he did? About 4,000 years ago, Hammurabi, a king in Babylon, created a code of 282 laws to protect the weak. I think that his laws were fair.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Some of Hammurabi's codes were just but most of them were unjust. Hammurabi's codes were too rough and unfair to people because son's would get their hands cut off for things that could have been handled differently and better,debts were not fair, and slaves were treated differently than free people.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Was Hammurabi Unjust

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hammurabi had 282 laws many with extremely harsh punishments like death. Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon for 42 years and was thought to have gotten his laws from the god of justice Shamash. I believe that Hammurabi’s code was unjust because of the family law, property law, and the personal injury law. First of all, it is unjust because of the family laws. Law 148 states that if a man's wife wife is severely ill the man can remarry but he cannot divorce the ill wife and still has to take care of her.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hammurabi Dbq

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In law 21 it states that if a man has broken into a house to rob they therefore well kill him. How is this Just you ask, in mesopotamia they had to be strict about things or else people would do whatever they want whenever they want. So in law 21 when it states that they shall put the man to death it’s therefore preventing people from doing it in the future because the punishment is so rough. In law 23 it states that if a robber is not caught the victim shall state what he lost before a god and the city mayor shall replace what he lost. This is very Just because, the person who got robbed gets the stuff they lost back. In law 53/54 if a man has flooded his neighbor's field the man he flooded the field must restore the crop he has caused to lost. Moreover this law is very just because the man who flooded the field has to pay for his mistake and restore the other man’s crops that were lost. In a like manner all of the laws for property are majorly…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The document about Hammurabi's Code explains the rules and freedoms the law gives to women of this time period. Hammurabi was chosen as governor of men in order to establish laws for the good of his people. Although he claims to be instituting the best laws for his people, he seems to forget the equality of men and women. He declares, "to promote the welfare of the people...to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak" (A&O, p. 14) as his logic for these laws. Hammurabi's Code does not give women full freedom when it comes to marriage, a man's imprisonment, and her family.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Code Of Hammurabi Essay

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First of all; Hammurabi was a Mesopotamian king who recorded a system of laws called the Code of Hammurabi. Code of Hammurabi is a set of 282 rules and penalties devised by the Babylonian King, Hammurabi. King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, placed along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, from 1792–1750 BCE. During his time as king he oversaw a great expansion of his kingdom from a city-state to an empire. He was concerned about keeping order in his kingdom but that wasn't the only cause for amassing the list of laws. As he conquered other cities and his kingdom grew, he saw the need to unify the groups he controlled. To accomplish this goal, he needed one universal set of laws for all the people he conquered the Hammurabi Code.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    King Hammurabi Dbq

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    King Hammurabi ruled the city state of Babylon from 1792 and 1750(BC ) . He was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, having taken over the throne from his father. The Amorites were a Semitic people who were originally from western Mesopotamia. Hammurabi is credited for expanding the Kingdom of Babylon and civilization along the Euphrates River, eventually conquering and uniting all of Mesopotamia. Although King Hammurabi is ruthless in war and swift to crush any rebellion, a main guiding tenant of his reign of 43 years, was to improve the lives of his people and to provide for all the people he ruled over. During his reign, he is known as “builder of the land”, due to his numerous public works building projects and construction of canal systems.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Code Of Hammurabi Essay

    • 2713 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Hammurabi created a list of rules and laws for the people of his empire to follow called “The Code of Hammurabi”. This is one of the oldest and most detailed documents in existence and gives insight as to how the members of Babylonian society lived. The code listed 282 rules for society to obey by and the consequences or guidelines for each member given their social status and their gender. There were rules of every category. From marriage and adultery, criminal acts such a stealing, property, and monetary trading.…

    • 2713 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hammurabi Research Paper

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What does it mean to be just? Being just is behaving according to what is morally right and fair. Hammurabi's Code was a code instated in 1750 BC when Hammurabi was the King of Babylonia. The code was imprinted onto a stone pillar and was placed in the center of town so everyone could see it and know what the laws were. Hammurabi's code was just for that time period. It showed that Hammurabi was strict and was very protective over his community. Although the punishments were harsh, they fit the time they were instated. The punishments usually involved bodily harm or being locked away for life. The main reason Hammurabi created this code was for the helpless people that could not defend themselves, also known as the widows and orphans. Hammurabi’s Code was just.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hammurabi's Rule

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Babylon life was probably hard for the people because they didn’t have as much resources as we do today. The people of Babylon had very strict rules and this was what made it hard the people had too build good houses and make good houses and had too be very careful. It was also hard because Hammurabi’s religion was huge and they all had too follow his beliefs. So they couldn't believe in something different or they would die. In Source C it says if a man breaks another's man's bone his own shall be broke. I think that this is a bad rule what if one man slips bumps into another man and the man falls and breaks his are. Im saying that this rule is not fair. In the document it also says that If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hammurabi's Code

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “If a man strikes the slave girl of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay two shekels of silver.” A non slave would be paid ten shekels of silver. Isn’t that unfair? Hammurabi was the king of Babylonia in the 18th century B.C.E. He is very important. He wrote one of the world’s oldest sets of laws, which now is studied by many people. I feel Hammurabi’s code is unjust because of its Property laws, Family laws, and Personal-Injury laws.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hammurabi was the most power king in Mesopotamia and ruled for forty-two years. This superior king was known as the ‘King of Righteousness’ because of his role in making the first laws that have ever been written down. These two-hundred and two laws that were all written in cuneiform were collectively called ‘Hammurabi’s Code.’ These laws are controversial, even to this day. Was it just or not? ‘Just’ means if the subject in question is right, morally. Hammurabi’s Code was not just because it did not protect the lesser or the ‘weak’ as he said it would and the laws would condone no ‘mistakes.’…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Although Hammurabi’s code could be seen as just, but some ideas he has are thought out incorrectly. Overall Hammurabi’s laws can’t be said as righteous in every way, since they god of unjust must of work with the god of…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics