The Importance of the Code of Hammurabi
In one of the central halls of the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, there stands the familiar index-finger-shaped, basalt stele that contains the articles of what is known as the Code of Hammurabi. Although this relic from ancient Mesopotamia was found in Susa (in today’s Iran), the original is exhibited in the Louvre in Paris, while several other museums around the world (the National Museum of Iran included) host only a high-quality copy.
Hammurabi was a dominant Babylonian King who ruled for over 40 years in the 18th c BC (1792 to 1749 BC). Today, his fame is based on the elaborate set of laws which he bequeathed to us written on a stone, much earlier than the commandments Moses brought down from Mt Sinai (according to tradition, also inscribed on slabs). The 282 Hammurabi laws that survive to our days are documented in the Akkadian cuneiform writing and are arranged in orderly groups, addressing disputes regarding trade, slander, divorce, theft, adultery, and other inevitable challenges faced in any organised society. Many smaller (and more ancient) terracotta tablets containing some of these laws have been found in the broader geographical area, indicating that perhaps this stele was created to primarily commemorate the grandeur of Hammurabi himself. When Babylon was conquered in the 12th c BC, the stele was taken as booty to Susa, so that the subjugated city would be deprived of the benefits of the law. It would take six more centuries for the area to unite under the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great and the Hammurabi Code to become, once again, available for all people to see.
This set of laws is one of the oldest and lengthiest written documents we have discovered and managed to decode. Some of the punishments – like the famous “an eye for an eye” – may seem crude to us today; yet, they express the mentality of an era that echoes in other sets of laws which appeared much later than Hammurabi, including the Mosaic Law found in the Old Testament – a Holy Book that was to influence the largest part of the human population.
Although based on the Hammurabi Code people are not equal, and punishments differ depending on the social status and gender of the person wronged, this set of laws is an admirable effort to offer justice to all and, hence, it represents a significant step forward for the human society which, in the 18th c BC, was still in its infantry. Let us not forget that for the greatest part of the human presence on Earth, such guidelines were not necessary.
Although based on the Hammurabi Code people are not equal, and punishments differ depending on the social status and gender of the person wronged, this set of laws is an admirable effort to offer justice to all and, hence, it represents a significant step forward for the human society.
The foraging and hunting societies were small and scattered; the notion of individual property did not exist and, thus, there was no need to create measures of protection against theft or other calamities; the individuals within a tribe were, more or less, equal, and differentiation based on social status or gender was minimal – if any. The Agricultural Revolution which took place around 10,000 – 12,000 years ago put an end to this way of living that had served humans for hundreds of thousands of years. The permanent settlements that evolved and the exponential increase in the number of people required storage rooms, guards, managers, rulers, walls and borders, armies, accounting, taxation, and laws. It feels bizarre that the art of writing – with which humanity would eloquently express its most subtle feelings – sprouted from the need to create accurate records of crops and properties. The subsequent urgency to form rules according to which these properties – individual or communal – had to be safeguarded led to sets of laws which, in their turn, had to go through an evolutionary process leading to the Hammurabi Code and other subsequent, yet similar, Laws.
As such, this famous basalt stele represents a turning point in our social development: a moment in history when an effort was made to address all potential issues of dispute, allowing every side, regardless of status or gender, to be protected. Protection was not offered equally – and, despite all the progress achieved in the 4,000 years that followed – it is still not fair and impartial for all. Our way of thinking is much closer to the Hammurabi era than what we would like to think, which is an indicator of how slowly progress is achieved and accepted by our species. On the other hand, it is a reminder of how special we are for having accomplished so much, often against our deepest fears and conservatism.
This famous basalt stele represents a turning point in our social development: a moment in history when an effort was made to address all potential issues of dispute, allowing every side, regardless of status or gender, to be protected.
Photos: © Konstantina Sakellariou.
