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9 / 18 / 00 WorldHammurabis Code Paul Gockel 9 / 18 / 00 World History 1 Persuasive Essay The most significant thing that the Babylonians contributed to society would be the Code of Hammurabi or a written set of laws. Some laws and ideas are still in use today. The laws set up a more efficient and kinder government. The codes also created a government that was geared more for the people instead of the king.
The Babylonian king, Hammurabi, used his great power and comprised a list of 282 laws. The laws were concerning property rights, loans, deposits, debts, domestic property, and family rights. The laws were displayed in the town square of the 12 main cities of Babylon. Scribes read them aloud periodically so that every citizen understood the laws and could abide by them. Also, public punishments were administered in the city square to ward off wrong doers. The laws were very simple and there was no room for argument.
If you violated them, you would get the full extent of the law as a punishment. The concept of equal retaliation was used mainly for the codes. Usually if you maimed someone, you were maimed the same way you did to the victim. The slaves and lower class were still protected by all the laws, but the punishments were usually lowered. People may say that the Sumerians came up with the first set of laws and the Babylonians copied them. Hammurabi realized that in order for the laws to work, people would need to know them.
He set up the first public law readings and displayed them for all to see. This affected society because the citizens actually knew the laws and then could follow them. Hammurabi was a great ruler and a social organizer. He understood the class system and didn t favor one too much in his laws. This led to a long and healthy empire. When the Hittites took over, they kept most of the culture and laws intact because it worked.
Civilizations learned from this and used this to create strong, powerful empires.
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