A Way to See the Position of Hammurabi's Code

What interests me most about Hammurabi’s code is the ambiguous nature of its purpose. When I first learned about the code it was presented to me as the first written book of law, but Mieroop makes it fairly clear that this is not the case. While the code clearly illustrates many examples of problematic situations that might arise and their prescribed solutions, the code was not an all encompassing law of the land. It seems that instead most disputes were settled in a court were common sense was emphasized over standardization to the code established by the state. The use of the code is not necessarily understood, and it is not intuitive to us exactly where it fits into its society.

To me the code represents a major shift in the operation of societies, an advancement in organization. For the very large and structured societies we live in today, a code of law is necessary to prevent chaos. A common sense system of justice would be incredibly problematic and disorganized on a scale as huge as, for example, the United States. However, in smaller organizations within our society we see common sense systems of justice play an important role in settling disputes. Let’s take for example an elementary school. An elementary school has many clear cut rules for issues that are sure to arise over and over again, like fighting or swearing. While these rules lay much of the groundwork for the system of justice in an elementary school, they are not the bottom line. The bottom line is the decision of the teacher, principal, or any other authority figure, who intervene in problems between students. The resolution to the situation doesn’t have to be based on the rules of the school, as they don’t always apply nor do they necessarily prescribe a punishment when they do, but the resolution does have be fair and make common sense.

While classroom rules don’t hold the same strict and rigid position as our laws, their place is understood and their role is important. The rise of Babylon under Hammurabi marks an important shift from smaller scale city-states to larger scale nations or dynasties, and I believe the position of the code of Hammurabi reflects this change. Their appearance demonstrates a need for a more standardized system than what was in place before them, however they do not construct a complete formula for justice. The code’s situation instead resembles something more like the situation of rules in an elementary school; they can be a point of reference and reflect a large scale standard, but are not the bottom line.