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French archaeologists found it buried in the sands of what is now Iran in 1901. The pieces of a great pillar of black stone were carved in the ancient region of Mesopotamia more than 3,600 years earlier. At the top of the massive pillar,
Explore Hammurabi's Code, one of the oldest written legal codes, its laws, punishments, and lasting impact on modern justice systems.
Key Takeaways
- Hammurabi's Code is one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes.
- It established laws to unify diverse peoples and city-states under Babylonian rule.
- Punishments were strict and often reciprocal but varied by social class and status.
- The code granted some legal rights to women despite their lower social status.
- Foundational legal concepts from the code still influence modern justice systems.
What the video covers
- The Code of Hammurabi was discovered in 1901 in what is now Iran by French archaeologists.
- The stele was carved over 3,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and features Hammurabi and the Babylonian Sun God.
- Hammurabi unified Babylonian city-states with a universal set of laws to maintain order and justice.
- The code contains over 250 laws with specific rules and harsh punishments, including death for many crimes.
- Punishments were often reciprocal, such as 'an eye for an eye,' but varied by social class.
- Women had lower status but retained some rights like inheritance and divorce under the code.
- The code regulated various aspects of life including liability, trade, malpractice, and minimum wages.
- Some legal principles from the code, like presumption of innocence and trial procedures, influence modern law.
- The stele stands as a permanent legal precedent and has survived thousands of years as a symbol of ancient law.
- The code reflects a complex system of justice balancing social hierarchy, fairness, and legal order.
Chapters
- 00:00Discovery of the Code of Hammurabi
- 00:22Hammurabi and the Babylonian Empire
- 00:42Purpose and Scope of the Code
- 00:59Laws and Harsh Punishments
- 02:14Trial by Water and Proof of Guilt
- 02:30Reciprocal Punishments and Social Class Differences
- 03:58Women's Rights and Social Status
- 05:13Economic Regulations and Worker Wages
- 05:29Legacy and Influence on Modern Law
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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or stele, were two figures: the ancient Babylonian Sun God, flames coming from his shoulders, and Hammurabi, the most famous king of Babylon. Hammurabi had turned Babylon into an empire, conquering independent city-states throughout the Fertile Crescent, the rich farmland
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between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. To establish order and unify all of these different cities and people, Hammurabi needed one universal set of laws to, as heroes, bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evildoers so that
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the strong should not harm the weak. More than 250 of those laws are carved in columns onto this stele in characters and symbols, one of the oldest known written codes of conduct, setting out rules of behavior and specific, often
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harsh punishments. If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death, states law number 22. More than 30 laws call for the guilty to be put to death, sometimes in gruesome ways, by being impaled, burned, or thrown
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into water. That meant being tossed in the Euphrates River. If the accused drowned, it was seen as proof of guilt because the gods didn't save him or her. But if the river proved that the accused is not guilty and he escaped unhurt,
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reads the code, the accused was innocent. And then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death. Causing a death was often punishable by death. If a builder constructed a house that collapsed and killed the homeowner, that
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builder shall be put to death. If the homeowner's son was killed in the collapse, the son of that builder shall be put to death. Punishment was often reciprocal. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out,
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reads law number 196, one of the most famous in that code. But if fairness and justice weren't applied equally, punishments varied depending on the social class of both the accused and the accuser. If a higher-class landowner put out the eye
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of a commoner, for example, he only had to pay a fine of one gold miner, according to the code. Women in every social class had lower status than men. Several laws restricted what women could do, but others protected women's rights
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to inherit a field, a garden, or a house, and to divorce their husbands. A wife who could prove abandonment or neglect could take her dowry and go back to her father's house. Laws and the code cover liability, malpractice, trade, even the
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minimum wage to be paid to workers in specific occupations: six bores of corn per year for an ox driver, a dwarf, or a cattle or sheep herder; four euros for a rope maker; and five gears for a potter.
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Elements of law and justice carved in the pillar are still found printed in modern law books thousands of years later: the presumption of innocence, for example, and the right of two parties in dispute to bring their case before a judge and
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provide evidence and witnesses. It seems clear Hammurabi meant the code to stand as a permanent set of legal precedents. Most of the monument has survived for thousands of years, an ancient system of law and order set in stone.
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[Music] You
Topics:HammurabiCode of HammurabiBabylonancient lawMesopotamiaancient justicelegal historylaw and punishmentsocial classwomen's rights
