Hammurabi Law, or First Written Source of Law

The oldest source of law is considered to be the law of Hammurabi, or rather the whole of their arch, which regulated the life of the ancient Babylonian society. Found it during one of the archaeological expeditions in the territory of Mesopotamia, between the legendary rivers Tigris and Euphrates. French archaeologists worked in Suze, one of the oldest cities in modern Iraq. The finds were Impressive: objects of material culture, numerous clay tablets with mysterious cuneiform texts, household utensils. Among them was a special object - a black basalt column with a height of 2.25 meters. The lower part of it was completely covered with cuneiform signs. At the top was the image of the sun god Shamash. He handed a scroll to a man in a royal garment.

The find was delivered to Paris, to the National Museum of France Louvre. The researchers immediately became enthused by deciphering the mysterious inscriptions. It was an amazing creation of art and at the same time a reminder of ancient law, known as the "laws of the Babylonian king Hammurabi."

How did this lawyer appear? In order to answer this question, one should look at the political map of the region. In the first half of the XVIII century. BC. Mesopotamia was a number of cities, which often competed with each other. Hammurabi united these states into a single whole, stopped internecine strife and chose Babylon as its capital. In order to centralize his power, he adopts his own set of rules and norms. This is the history of Hammurabi's laws, and what is their essence?

The legalist, who was transferred to the king by Shamash himself, consists of an introduction, articles (the total number of which is 282) and conclusions. Violation of them was considered a crime against the deity, so it was punished very severely. Hammurabi's law was to give Babylonia peace, justice and prosperity. Articles are written in casuistic form, that is, they describe not the general norms, but specific cases from life.

The law of Hammurabi asserted the division of society into full and incomplete. For the same crimes, they responded in different ways. The state used slave labor, and the dependent person fully submitted to the will of his master. However, the slave could have his own farm, family and even enter into civil-law transactions. Hammurabi's law contributed to the formation of the institution of private property, but he also regulated civil and family relations, heredity.

The criminal policy of the Babylonian state was also interesting. Hammurabi wanted to eradicate evil, struggled with criminals, atheists and villains. His laws called for retaliation, for punishment, which was equal to the damage inflicted. The principle that says "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," which is later found in the Bible, came from here. In addition, intimidation, the system of fines and the public court as a relic of the tribal system were used, and the circumstances mitigating the blame were taken into account.

Although the lawyer of Hammurabi was used for a relatively short time, his influence on the development of the legal culture of the world is invaluable.