Hammurabi's Laws
Hammurabi’s law code is similar to the Ten Commandments. They showed Babylonia various rules they were to abide by, and the consequences if they did not. I feel that many of these rules are similar to the laws of today, since they were created to set a standard for society. Yet, they are filled with double standards towards women, and the poverty stricken, and quick, and unjust punishments.
Law number 22 stated:
“If a man has committed highway robbery and been caught, he shall be put to death”1
I think this is quite unfair. Why does stealing deserve death? The description of robbery is, “the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person ...
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As stated before, the punishment for robbery is much harsher than for this crime. Incest only grants expulsion. To steal a tangible item and inflict fear, you die; to steal a girl’s innocence and dignity, inflict pain, hatred, fear, and just an overall tainted feeling, you get to start your life over in a new city.
Another of these laws that show exactly what little worth the female gender had is number 141:
“If a wife, living in her husband’s house, has persisted on going out, has acted the fool, has wasted her house, has belittled her husband, he shall prosecute her. If her husband has said, I divorce her, she shall go her way; he shall give her nothing as her price of divorce. If he has said, I will not divorce her, he may take another woman to wife, and the [first] wife shall live as a slave in her husband’s house.”4
First off, what grounds does a person have for making another a slave? It seems anyway that the female is already one. The code basically says that ...
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Hammurabi's Laws. (2004, January 29). Retrieved April 20, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hammurabis-Laws/2184
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"Hammurabi's Laws." Essayworld.com. January 29, 2004. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hammurabis-Laws/2184.
"Hammurabi's Laws." Essayworld.com. January 29, 2004. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hammurabis-Laws/2184.
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