Hammurabi: 10 Interesting Facts About the Babylonian King and His Code of Laws

1. The Hammurabi code of law is actually not the earliest known code of laws

Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir, 1857-1934; King, L. W. (Leonard William), 1869-1919, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Hammurabi code of law is often cited and considered as the oldest written laws on record. That is not exactly true however because these were predated by at least two other ancient codes of conduct from the Middle East. The earliest one dates all the way back to the 21st century BC evidently in the Sumerian  Code of Lipit -Ishtar which was drawn up two centuries before the Hammurabi code came about. However, they both have a striking resemblance in their style and content thus suggesting or implying that they may have influenced one another or even have derived from a similar source.

2. The Hammurabi Code included so many bizarre and gruesome forms of punishment

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The Hammurabi code is one of the examples of the ancient perception of the law of retribution. That is, a form of retariating justice commonly summarized by the phrase, ‘eye for an eye. In this system, if a man broke the bone of another, his would be broken too. Simple as that. Same measure. Capital crimes however, were met often with death penalties. For example, incest was punishable by being burnt to death. If a couple was for example caught conspiring to murder their spouses, they would both be impaled. However, according to this code, even petty crimes were not spared at all. If you were caught stealing even a piece of bread because you are hungry, you hand would be cut off. For crimes that could not be proven or disproven with hard evidence, the code allowed trial by ordeal. This is an unusual practice where the person accused would be placed in a risky situation as a way of determining innocence. These are some of the examples showing how bizzare the code would be.

3. Hammurabi was an avid warrior and very shrewd administrator

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His shrewdness is probably what made Hammurabi a very popular because it made him be able to rule at a smart point of view and not an emotional one. He was also considered an avid warrior who honoured the traditions of Sumer, Akkad and other lands he managed to buy under his authority. He could be merciless to enemies and destroying cities that dared to defy him. He further provided unity and stability to his empire by compiling these codes that applied to everyone.

4. The Hammurabi laws varied according to social class and gender

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This code took a brutal approach to justice but the seriousness of criminal penalties and charges depended on the identity of both the lawbreaker and the victim. For instance, one law demanded, “If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out,” This same crime committed ahainst a member of a lower class was only punishable by a fine. Another example, if a man killed a maid servant, he would be punished with monetary fine but if he killed a free preganat woman, his daughter would be killed as retribution. In other words, members of a lower social class weren’t really considered as people. Crimes against them weren’t taken taht seriously. Men and women were also punished differently. For instance, men were allowed to commit adultery with maid servants and slaves. For women however, it was a no. In fact a woman caught commiting adultery would be tossed into the Euphrates together with her lover.

5. The Code established a minimum wage for workers

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The Hammurabi code was also quite ahead of its time when it came to laws particularly addressing subjects on divorce, property rights and prohibition of incest. But the most progressive one was probably the one pertaining to wages. It was a stipulation mandating an ancient form of minimum wage. The code referenced specific occupations and dictated how much workers were to be paid. For instance, field labourers and herdmen were paid around eight gur of corn per year while ox drivers and sailors received six gur. Doctors were guaranteed 5 shekels for healing a free born man of his inhuries, 3 shekels for a freed slave and only two shekels for a slave. Hence the wage really depnded on your social class too.

6. Hammurabi combined his military and political advances with irrigation projects

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It is said that Hammurabi managed to combine his military and political advances with irrigation projects and construction of fortifications . Today, it is reported that the Babylon of Hammurabi’s era is buried below the groundwater tables and the archives he kept that might shed to the kind of civilization they had, long dissolved. However, the clay tablets discovered at other ancient sites give a few glimpses of the kind of personality Hammurabi had and statecraft.

7. The Hammurabi Code includes one of the earliest examples of the presumption of innocence

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As much as the Hammurabi code is well known for its catalogue of barbaric punishments, it also set several examples of very valuable legal precedents that are relevant to date. This code is the earliest code of rules to insist upon, ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ This code places such high value of the burden of proof on the accuser when it clearly states,

“If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.”

It also includes a modern take and approach on judicial procedures. For instance, according to the code, when two parties have had a dispute, the legal protocol at the time would allow them to bring their case before the judge and provide evidence together with witnesses that will without doubt, back up their claims.

8. It is not yet very clear the role the code played in Babylonian culture

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To date, historians are still not so sure of the role the code played in shaping the Babylonian culture. The code yes offers a glimpse into what daily life in ancient Babylon must have been like, but exactly how these laws functioned in that society is still debatable. Some historians have argued that the code was not really a working legal document, but just a piece of royal propaganda that was created to make Hammurabi seem like a great and just ruler. It really is all just debatable. However in the epilogue of the code, with regards to a man involved in a dispute, Hammurabi says he should read his laws to, “…find out what is just, and his heart will be glad…” Thus this leaves it a bit more confusing.

9. The Code endured even after Babylon was conquered

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After his death in 1750 BC,  Hammurabi’s empire declined before going under the sand completely in 1595 B.C, when a Hittite army attacked Babylon and claimed its riches. However, Hammurabi’s code proved to be really influential that it managed to endure as a legal guide for several other centuries to come. Even after rule over Mesapotamia repeatedly switched hands. Fun fact: Fragments of the laws have been found on clay tablets that go all the way back to the 5th century B.C. That is more that 1,000 years after Hammurabi’s rule.

10. These laws weren’t rediscovered until the 20th century

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The laws of Hammurabi were lost to history and came to be rediscovered in 1901 when French archeologists unearthed the diorite stele at the ancient city of Susa and Iran, once the seat of the Elamite empire. Historians believe that when the Elamite king, king Shutruk, raided Babylon, he plundered the four-ton slap containing all these laws and brought it to Susa as a treasure of war. However, it is said that this king erased several columns form the monument to create space for his own inscrpitions although no text was ever added. The pillar is now kept on display at Louvre Museum in Paris.

Hammurabi was quite an intersting character and rule. The fact that he came up with his own sets of rules says quite a lot. These laws have helped understand in a way the kind of society the Babylonians really were and the systems that were working under Hammurabi’s rule.