Hammurabi’s Code Of Laws

3 Pages 719 Words

Hammurabis punishments are far more severe than those of today. A good
example of this is his first law which imbeds slander. It states,”If anyone ensnare another,
putting a ban upon them, but he cannot prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to
death,” compared with today’s punishment of the same crime this seems a little extreme.
Death is punishment for most every crime imaginable in Hammurabi’s time, but I suppose
if people are scared to death, they are less likely to do something wrong. I dont know
what people thought of these laws back then, but I can guarantee that they didn’t tell him
about it. These Code of Laws never gave any person whom committed a crime a second
chance, which also refers to not being able to prove the charge, for example “If anyone
brings an accusation of any crime before the elders and does prove what he was charged,
he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death. The word put do death was
used in about 94 % of his laws. It seems he used it to give people a fair warning, but
never had an explanation for any of them. This automatically shows that all Hammurabi’s
written laws were unequal and unfair.
To demonstrate some of these examples are “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. My second example is “If anyone buy from the son or the slave of
another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox
or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall
be put to death. Next is “If anyone steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it
belong to a god or to ...