Jared Doty

Lolene Blank
Western Civilization to 1300
26 October 2014
Hammurabi Codes
Hammurabi became ruler of Babylon in 1792 B.C.E and resigned in 1750 B.C.E.
Hammurabi was the sixth Amorite king of Babylon. He inherited the power from his father SimMuballit. He followed his father in conquering the Mesopotamians, so Babylon could take over
and expand their territory. Hammurabi came up with the concept, "An eye for an eye." This
meant that what one does to another shall have the same consequence. Hammurabi took this
concept and turned it into laws that were followed in his empire. King Hammurabi created the
first actual laws that were followed. Some of the laws were harsh and unfair. He divided the
Babylonian society into three different groups: free-person, commoners and slaves. The freeperson group were considered the rich and were punished the least for the actions they made.
The commoners were middle class people who were punished worse than the free-person but
punished less than the slaves. The slaves were the lower class and were poor people who were
punished the worse for the actions they chose.
Babylon was established in 1894 B.C.E. Babylon was a Semitic Akkadian. It was located
in south Mesopotamia which is now modern day Iraq. From the Akkadian language, Babylon
means "Gate of God. Babylon still continues to use the Akkadians language which is Arabic.
The Euphrates River ran beside Babylon along with Tigris river. Along with Babylon being the
capital of Mesopotamia, there was also Mari, Rapiqum, Eshnunna, Slipper, Malgium, Kish,
Nippur, Isin, Larsa, Uruk, Lagash, Ur and Eriqu. These city-states started becoming more and

more advanced over time. Communications were becoming clearer and quicker. Cities could
communicate just by writing something on clay plaque. Watering plants for farm lands became
easier as well as having water and plumbing in homes by arrogation. Arrogation was a great
invention that Mesopotamians used. It helped save a ton of time and work for society.
Mathematics was created so they could solve algebra mathematical problems to build building
and art pieces. Astronomy was an idea they came up with out of using the mathematics they
invented. With this theory, they were able to follow the stars, planets and the moon. They could
predict the movements of the planets and tell how they worked. They also used the moon and sun
to create a twelve month calendar as well as twenty-four hour clock. Medicine was a huge
advancement the Mesopotamians developed. They used natural herbs and plants to create pills
and creams. The Mesopotamians really made life easier and more advanced.

Babylonians made money by trading values. The Assyrian Kings allowed trades to other
cities in the 1900 B.C.E. They made woolen textiles to trade for precious medals like gold,
copper and silver. Babylonians made money by financing donkey caravans to transport goods
and other valuables. Hammurabi divided Babylon into three different groups. The first was the
free persons. Free persons got treated with the most respect. They were the rich people and
Hammurabi treasured them the most. The second group was the commoners group. They were
treated worse than the free persons people because they were considered the middle class group.
Hammurabi treasured these people the second best. The last class was the slaves. The slaves
were treated the worse out of all of the groups. They made the least amount of money so they
had to pay for it by suffering the worse consequences. Babylonians assembled a court to
determine consequences for the actions they made.

Hammurabi was the judge and made his decisions about the actions of the civilians of
Babylon. He sent out workers to get other laws from other countries and cities to change and use.
Hammurabi made two hundred and eighty-two laws. These laws were used and meant
something. These laws were strict and unique. These laws were only used in Babylon and
Assyria. Some were unfair and some were too fair. The one thing that the laws had in common
was they all followed Hammurabis thought, an eye for an eye, this is what made everything
equal. Hammurabi said, to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked person and
the evil-doer that the strong might not injure the weak. This shows that putting these laws into
power by punishing the law breakers will bring peace to the society of Babylon and Assyria. The
laws were etched into a huge wall. Some laws were harsh. For an example if anyone is caught
stilling then they shall be put to instant death. Another code was if a young boy hits his father
then his hands have to be cut off. If a man knocks the teeth out of another man then his teeth will
be knocked out also. These laws are followed by an eye for an eye. Some codes were different
because of gender. For an example, a man could divorce his wife for any reason but when
divorced, the wife had to give everything she put into the relationship back to the husband.
Women had very limited legal rights and were treated very differently from men. Women did
have one right, they could divorce men if the men were beating the women or were cruel to them
in anyway.

Hammurabi became king of Babylon after his father. Mesopotamia was in the time of
inventing products to make life easier. Arrogation was invented to water farm lands and bring
water to homes. Medicine was invented to help with the ill. Babylon was a city of Mesopotamia

that was in need of some rules. Hammurabi came up with codes that helped Babylon and
Assyrian get put in control. The two hundred and eighty-two claws followed an equal right that
Hammurabi came up with, it was called an eye for an eye. King Hammurabi was a great ruler.
Babylon and Assyrian society loved him. Babylon became a great city all thanks to the
Hammurabi Code.

Sources_______________________________________________________________________
Hunt, Lynn, Thomas Martin, Barbara Rosenwein, and Bonnie Smith. The Making of the West.
Third ed. Vol. One. Boston: Mary Dougherty, 2010. 559. Print.
"Hammurabi's Code: An Eye for an Eye." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, 1 Jan.
2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp>.
"Ancient Mesopotamia: Science, Inventions, and Technology." Ducksters. Technological
Solutions, Inc. (TSI), Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/science_and_technology.php>