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The Purpose of Hammurabi Code and Its Implication on How Women Were Treated In

Mesopotamia

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Institution

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The purpose of the Hammurabi code and its implication on how women were treated in

Mesopotamia

The code of Hammurabi refers to the collection of Babylonian laws during the reign of

King Hammurabi. It consists of legal decisions made by King Hammurabi that were collected

towards the end of his reign. The Hammurabi code consisted of two hundred and eighty-two

laws that were inscribed on a diorite stela set up in Marduk the Babylonian temple (Özek, 2008).

The laws in the Hammurabi code represented every aspect of life. The 282 case laws were

divided into family laws, justice, civil laws, criminal laws, and economic provision laws (King,

2021). The code was a reflection of how men and women were treated in Mesopotamia. The

laws also depicted the treatment of people according to class since penalties varied according to

the status of the offenders. This paper will address the purpose of the Hammurabi code and its

implication on how women were treated in Mesopotamia.

The purpose of the Hammurabi code

A legal code is a comprehensive written statement of laws that define all aspects of life in

a country. The Hammurabi code consists of 282 case laws and therefore it's a legal code written

in ancient times (King, 2021). The code’s major objectives were establishing justice through

fines and punishments. Besides, the Hammurabi code established commercial interactions

through the economic provision laws that entailed trade, tariff, and commerce laws. King

Hammurabi wanted to ensure order in his kingdom and the 282 case laws reflect on his

leadership skills (Nagarajan, 2011).

The property law was a guide to merchants, agents, and landowners in Babylonia on

private property rights (Nagarajan, 2011). Violation of property rights resulted in capital
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punishments according to the laws 6- 25. Capital punishment was a threat to merchants, agents,

and landowners. The enforcement of private property rights ensured order among the people of

Babylonia. Law 6 is a perfect example of capital punishment for stealing or destroying private

property.it states, “If any one steals the property of a temple or the court, he shall be put to death,

and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.” (King, 2021) Law

six is biased because it does not distinguish the innocent and the receiver of stolen property, the

receiver of the stolen property would have been considered innocent. Despite the harsh

punishments of the Hammurabi code, it entailed laws that reflected equity in society. A perfect

example is law one hundred and eleven that focuses on the principle of equity through fairness in

pricing. Law 111, states as follows: “If an inn-keeper furnish sixty ka of usakani-drink to . . . she

shall receive fifty ka of corn at the harvest.” (King, 2021) This law depicts equity regardless of

class; the strong were not allowed to exploit the weak.

Hammurabi Code and Its Implications on Treatment of Women in Mesopotamia

The code of Hammurabi played a crucial role in how women were treated, as well as

their rights during the ancient civilization. (King, 2021) .The concept "an eye for an eye" was the

major principle of the Hammurabi code. Nevertheless, the code did not treat women equally as it

did with men of the Babylonian civilization. For instance, if a man practiced adultery while in

marriage, he would get a minor punishment for whatever excuse he came up with. On the other

hand, if a woman in marriage committed adultery, she and the other man would be tied up

together and thrown into the river (Özek, 2008). This implies the treatment of women as pieces

of property in Mesopotamia. This is evident from the law one hundred and twenty-nine which

favors the man; if the man wishes to forgive her wife, his woman would be spared by the king.
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Hammurabi law code does not regard the rights of women. According to the code,

women are expected to be loyal to their men. Capital punishments favored men over women

(Özek, 2008). For instance, according to law two hundred and nine, a man will forgo punishment

by paying ten shekels for the miscarriage he caused to a free woman. It’s worse when the

Hammurabi law code 210 states that “If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.”

(King, 2021) Therefore, the Hammurabi law code reveals slavery of women in Mesopotamia;

Women had less freedom and rights compared to men.

Conclusion

Hammurabi law code consisted of two hundred and eight two laws that were collected

towards the end of the reign of Hammurabi. The main purpose of the code was to define justice

through punishments and fines.it was to provide laws to guide the functionality of merchants,

agents, and landowners. The laws in the Hammurabi code reflected on women's treatment in

Mesopotamia, as well as their rights. This depicts the mistreatment of women where men were

favored over women for minor mistakes. The law also indicates that women had fewer rights and

freedom compared to men. A perfect example is the case of miscarriage where men would pay to

avoid punishments and in case the woman died, her daughter was killed. Thus Hammurabi's law

code represented the mistreatment of women during ancient civilization.

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References

King, L. W. (2021, September 15). Avalon Project of Yale Law School. Retrieved from Avalon

Project of Yale Law School: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp

Nagarajan, K. (2011). The Code of Hammurabi: an economic interpretation. International

Journal of Business and Social Science, 108.

Özek, C. Ö. (2008). “Code of law” of Hammurabi. Child's Nervous System volume, 537–538.