Hammurabi
In my opinion Hammurabi is arguably one of the most important rulers in history. Hammurabi may not have developed the first code of laws, but he was the first person to record a code of laws. Hammurabi‘s law code was inscribed on an eight-foot pillar, which was set up in public. Hammurabi’s rule spanned from 1792 BC to 1750 BC. Hammurabi was primarily influential to the world because of his code of laws. Hammurabi’s code consisted of 282 provisions, systematically arranged under a variety of subjects. Hammurabi’s law code included many things, such as legal requirements dealing with social, domestic, commercial, and moral life. He sorted his laws into groups such as family, labor, personal property, real estate, trade, and business. This was the first time in history that any laws had been categorized into various sections. Hammurabi’s code differed according to the social status of the offender. An aristocrat was not punished as severely as a commoner was. Nor was a commoner punished as brutally as a slave. The way that Hammurabi organized his laws was emulated by civilizations of the future. Some Semitic cult
Hammurabi created his law code to try to regulate the relations of his people so that they could live together in harmony. Hammurabi based his code on principles like, the strong should not injure the weak, and that punishment should fit the crime. Under Hammurabi‘s code individuals brought their own complaints before the court. A person was expected to provide evidence and could subpoena witnesses to support his case. This is much how our court systems function today. The code was severe in its penalties, prescribing an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, that is unless the people were of different social classes. Although the punishments were different than those of today, the authority of the state (government) is similar. Currently, punishments are issued through the state's law enforcement system, comparable to the way punishment was determined and enforced in ancient Babylon. In the code, crimes punishable by death required a trial in front of a bench of judges. Included in these crimes were bigamy, incest, kidnapping, adultery and theft. In cases of murder if the accuser did not prove that the defendant was guilty then he was
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Approximate Word count = 778
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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