Race, Class, and Punishment

Content Objectives

The Law Code of Ancient Mesopotamia

Hammurabi’s Law Code was a set of laws that was established for one of the world’s first largest empires in Ancient Mesopotamia, or current day Iraq. King Hammurabi was able to conquer the independent city-states and felt that the gods appointed him king to implement, “justice to prevail the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak.”⁴ To maintain control over his vast empire and serve as a just ruler, Hammurabi created one of the earliest sets of law codes. This is where we get our famous, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” saying. This code was unique because it was the first code that was created based on the idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty.  During this time in Mesopotamia, social justice is defined as, “any aspect of crime or punishment, for anyone who is considered ‘wronged’ in any circumstance.”⁵ The code had different outcomes based on your social class. It also protected those who had a lower status in society, such as women who were abused by their husbands.

Origins

In 6^th grade, we are exploring how and why civilizations rise and fall. The significance of the law codes originates from events in history preceding King Hammurabi. In 4000 B.C.E in Mesopotamia, humans settled in one area and people developed independent city-states. This was a critical part in human history. Before, humans were nomadic and constantly on the move to hunt and gather their food. Farming significantly changed how humans lived and developed. Now, people could stay in one place. As a result, populations grew and the first civilizations formed. The people who lived there sustained their own economy in independent city-states by growing crops. Each city-state had their own government and could consist of a population anywhere from 5,000-20,000 people. Archaeologists believe that some city-states may have had their own walls for protection.⁶ City-states also had their own ruler who ruled with divine order. The rulers gained their power from the gods, and used this as the premise for the beginnings of justice.

Each person had their own role in society, and the laws protected them. The initial law codes were established in response to complaints from the people. They were focused on, “first, oppression by royal officials, and second, natural disasters demanding repair of the infrastructure (canals, buildings) and/or remission of agricultural taxes.”⁷ The kings were not seen as gods, but ruled with the divine. Their role was never questioned and the king claimed that he was ordained by the gods, Anu and Enlil, to establish, ‘justice within the land’ and, ‘stop the mighty exploiting the weak.’⁸ The kings wanted the people to be protected and established this through the laws.

In the early developments of civilizations, the Sumerians were the first to invent a writing system in 3200 B.C.E. called, cuneiform. Cuneiform contained 1,200 characters. These characters represented, “names, physical objects, and numbers.”⁹ The system of writing was used to record poems, hymns, letters, and law collections.¹⁰ Although only scribes, typically wealthy men, could read and write, the public would orally share these writings and had open access to all of them. Archaeologists have discovered clay tablets that recorded each court case and decision using the law codes. Rulers “issued decrees on all sorts of problems, specific or general, and by the late third millennium B.C.E., these decrees were being gathered together into ‘law-codes’.”¹¹ We fortunately have records of these early codes because they were inscribed onto clay tablets in cuneiform. Social justice was included in the preamble of these codes, and it was an important part of civilizations as they were thriving in the city-states and learning to live in one area of growing populations. The first idea of justice during this time, is defined as

The concept of “social justice” in Mesopotamia can refer broadly to any aspect of crime or punishment, for anyone who is considered “wronged” in any circumstance. Justice does not only apply to the poor or marginalized, although these groups (often represented by vulnerable individuals such as widows and orphans) are often highlighted as most susceptible to abuse and   therefore most in need of protection; even the worst of criminals were offered protection in various circumstances.¹²

Later, in 1792 B.C.E., Hammurabi would replicate this law code, especially after conflict erupted in his new unified empire from the once independent city-states.

The Law Codes in Practice

During this time, the family unit was an important part of civilization. As people now lived in one empire, rather than the city-states, they still respected the idea of the family. The king gained his respect from establishing the role as the father. The people typically treated each other with equal respect and the laws were created from case by case decisions of confrontations where people felt that they had been treated unjustly. Relationships in society were an important part of daily life and were a driving force in creating the law codes.¹³ The earliest codes were used specifically for regulating prices, remitting debts and unpaid taxes, suppressing crime and violence, answering complaints, and protecting defenseless.¹⁴ Most of the complaints from the people that prompted cases to determine the laws came after oppression by royal officials and natural disasters. On a typical day, the king would hear appeals from citizens and decide on their compensation or send it to the courts. The king’s main role was to act as a mediator and either send his officials to take action, or restrain someone from abusing their power. Later, with the use of a post system, the king could address more issues from all different areas of the empire.¹⁵

Significance of the Law Code

The significance of the code was to protect the citizens from people abusing their power. Citizens, even those who were enslaved for labor, had the right to question or voice their complaints to the king when they felt that they were being treated unfairly. Hammurabi describes the significance of his code in his epilogue:

I have written these very special words of mine on this stone;

I have set them together with the image of me, the king of justice….

so that disputes may be settled in the land,

so that decisions may be made in the land,

so that the oppressed may be treated properly….

Let any man oppressed, anyone who has a complaint,

come before this statue of the king of justice

and let him have the message on the stone read aloud,

and let him listen to the treasured words I have written,

and may my stela resolve his complaint….

let this stela explain to him the customs and traditions,

the social problems I encountered

and the decisions I have taken for the community.¹⁶

The king felt that this type of system would maintain order among the civilization, especially the larger empire. Hammurabi wanted his law code to protect the people and stability in his empire. The law code did in fact maintain order and justice among the people in Mesopotamia. It also led to the more important premise of developing a civilization. The law codes helped the kings develop,

an extensive system of public works involving irrigation systems, road networks,   temples, and public buildings, and an administrative system involving supervision of trade and prices, regulation of taxation, enactment of rituals, provision of laws and courts, and attention to the needs and complaints of their subjects.¹⁷

As civilization was in its early development, it was clear that some sort of system that regulated and held people accountable was important in maintaining multiple areas of society, especially those that pertained to people’s social status and economic needs. Hammurabi’s laws were transparent and everyone had access to the rules. It was also comprehensive, and everybody was protected under the laws. This meant that the laws were fair because they protected everyone, but the consequences depended on your social status. This was one of the main weaknesses in Hammruabi’s Code. Not everybody was protected equally when they had to serve justice.

Criticisms

Though there were benefits to the law codes, there were also criticisms from the citizens, especially those of a lower social status. The poor did have direct access to the king to voice their complaints, but their social mobility generally stayed the same. In other words, you were to likely remain a slave your whole life, but you were protected by the law, often in a lesser way than those of a higher social status. For example, this law of the eye for an eye concept is not equally dispersed among the people of a lower status:

“196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. [ An eye for an eye ]

197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.

198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.”¹⁸

The people who were considered slaves at this time were the people who were captured from other areas to build the empire. They still contributed to the work in society and had certain rights, but they were not equal to everyone in the civilization.

Improvements

The law code could have been improved to enforce equal punishment and reimbursement to all people in society. The law code protected all citizens, but did not protect them all equally. Hammurabi carved each law onto a large stele, or a large, 7’ 4” tall stone slab that was on display for everyone to see. Anyone could inquire or access the law codes at any time. All members of society had the right to appeal to the king directly, but he ultimately had the final decision that was enforced by divine rule from the gods. We do not have as much research about people that spoke out against the laws, especially if they felt it was unjust. We do have written court cases and decisions that were decided from the jury. It is possible that there were more people who spoke against the laws, but did not see it to a final court hearing. In the end, the king declared the final remedies to restore justice and recorded the decisions in the law code in hope that it would maintain order and justice for everyone in society.