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The black stone pillar on which Hammurabi's laws are chiselled lay hidden and forgotten for millennia until it was rediscovered at the dawn of the twentieth century.
In future time, through all coming generations, let the king ... observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument; let him not alter the law of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; my monument let him not mar. - Code of Hammurabi, Epilogue
For justice is only found among those whose mutual relations are controlled by law, and law is only found among those who are liable to injustice; for legal justice consists in distinguishing between what is just and what is unjust. - Aristotle, 'Ethics'
The Code of Hammurabi enshrines the presumption of innocence but rates the life of a pregnant slave at a third the value of a free man's eye. Described as 'the most important source for a reconstruction of Babylonian society,' it provides a fascinating entry point into the study of ancient Babylon.1
This article focuses on Hammurabi's law code as a significant primary source shedding light on an essential question posed in Area of Study 2 in the VCE Study Design: 'What do the Laws of Hammurabi reveal about the way in which Babylonian society was organised?'2 A close analysis of the laws reveals, in telling detail, what constituted Hammurabi's vision of justice as it applied to the complex social realities inhabiting his imperial jurisdiction.
Hammurabi (born c. 1810 все, reigned 1792-1750 все) was the sixth king of the Old (or First) Babylonian Dynasty (2004-1595 все). In his own lifetime he was honoured as a god and a conqueror but the modern era knows him primarily as a law-giver.3 While the earliest written laws date back to the Ur III period (2112-2004 все) in ancient Mesopotamia, the Old Babylonian period witnessed the emergence of the most comprehensive surviving legal text. The father of this embryonic legal code was Hammurabi, a Babylonian king of Amorite descent belonging to a dynastic chain that evolved from 1894 все. Over time, through diplomatic patience, political acumen and effective military organisation, he transformed Babylon into the powerful urban capital of an empire that extended from Ur in...