The Code of Hammurabi: The Creation of Laws - Journey to Civilization - See U in History

In Mesopotamia, between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, a place known as the birth of civilization, some men started to live in cities. The urbanization process provided men with many benefits. Trade was now blossoming in the cities and scientific breakthroughs became more frequent. Nevertheless, urban life also increased the number of conflicts and disagreements among men, with the intent to pacify and circumvent conflicts between the members of society, laws were instituted. The first written code is known as the Code of Hammurabi. This compendium of Babylonian laws written in stone is a reference point to how justice was applied in the most different cases. These could be disputes over property or offenses against life. This code of laws was written in 2000 BC during the reign of King Hammurabi of Babylon. The kingdom of Babylon was the apex of mankind at its time, and Hammurabi had a decisive role in its establishment. The king proclaimed himself as someone who had been sent by God to create a fair and orderly society, and that he had received such authority from Marduk, a Babylonian deity. Before the emergence of written codes, laws were based on the community traditions and had a religious basis in most cases. Those who did not respect the group's customs had to suffer different forms of appraisal. They could be mocked by others, turned into outcasts within those same societies, or subjected to banishment or even capital punishment. But social groups with different customs tended to coexist. Thus it became necessary to establish laws that would be above the traditions of each group. The renowned Code of Hammurabi had precisely that objective, and the famous sentence, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, inspired in Lex Talionis, synthesizes the spirit of the Code, and so every offense would receive a proportional punishment. The laws were engraved on large basalt stones, and were exhibited in a public square. One of these stones was discovered in 1901 by French archaeologists, and is now on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. More than 200 laws were written in it in cuneiform writing. Most crimes were punishable by the death penalty, but the life of the perpetrator of the crime was not always the one at the stake. If a poorly built house collapsed, killing the owner's son, the builder's son would be killed too to make justice. Changing the laws was extremely difficult since they were set in stone. They remained unchanged for centuries. Hammurabi's Code influenced several other law codes that appeared afterwards, like the ancient Jewish law brought by Moses. Men only managed to live in large communities marching towards civilization after the first roots of law were established in Mesopotamia.