Text of Lectures given at Religion and Society Seminar at Kellogg College, Oxford, January 2011
HAMMURABI’S CODE OF LAWS (1780 BC)
Hammurabi was the sixth Amorite king of Babylon (the First Babylonian Dynasty) who died c. 1750 BC. He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire, who extended Babylon’s control over all Mesopotamia. Like most ancient kings and indeed like most ancient scriptures he claimed divine authority. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws (proclaimed c. 1780 BC) starts with the following proclamation:
“When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind.”[1]
His Code of Laws contains 282 separate clauses containing laws on a large number of offences, including murder, rape, stealing, false accusation, etc. His Code provides the first instance of lex talionis or the law of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, including execution for deliberate murder. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws provides us with the most detailed set of laws in any ancient text or scripture. Although there are some harsh penalties, there are also some laws that protect the rights of women and children, or punish those who make false allegations or a judge who rules unjustly. These are just a few examples of his 282 separate laws:
196. If a man puts out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
197. If he breaks another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it is a capital offence charged, be put to death.
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment.
23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community, and … on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the goods stolen.
137. If a man wishes to separate from a woman who has borne him children, or from his wife who has borne him children, then he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of the field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is given to the children, equal to that of one son, shall be given to her. She may then marry the man of her heart.
145. If a man takes a wife, and she bears him no children, and he intends to take another wife: if he takes this second wife, and brings her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed equality with his wife.
195. If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be cut off.
Notes:
[1] Hammurabi’s Code of Laws, translated by L. W. King. http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm
F Jahanpour 