The Babylonian king Hammurabi and his laws. Who protected the laws of King Hammurabi?

The legal system of the Ancient World is quite a complex and multifaceted topic. On the one hand, they could then execute "without trial and investigation," but on the other hand, many of the laws that existed at that time were not as fair as those that acted and acted on the territories of many modern states. King Hammurabi, who ruled in Babylon in immemorial times, is a good example of this versatility. More precisely, not himself, but those laws that were adopted during his reign.

When were they found?

In 1901-1902 the French scientific expedition conducted excavations in Susa. In the course of these works, scientists discovered a mysterious black bas-relief, the surface of which was covered with cuneiform symbols. Probably, this post appeared in the city after 1160 BC. E., When the elamas (the people who inhabited Susa) conquered and plundered many of the territories formerly belonging to the Babylonians. Now this priceless monument of antiquity is kept in the French Louvre. On it are immortalized the Babylonian king Hammurabi and his laws.

Brief background

Babylon is one of the most ancient states in the history of our world. Once upon a time in its territory there were laws adopted by ancient Sumerians, but at some point it became obvious that they are already outdated and do not reflect the existing realities. And it is not surprising, since this legislation was adopted even during the third dynasty of Ur!

Sumulail, who was the second king of the first dynasty of Babylon, began to make changes in the legal norms of his state. King Hammurabi continued the work of his predecessor. He had to edit from 1792 to 1750. BC. E.

In what conditions did the new ruler adopt a new set of laws?

Like many rulers of his time, he tried to consolidate the social order that already existed in the country. More precisely, the power of medium and large slave owners. It is obvious that the new king attached great importance to his lawmaking, since he started this work in the first days of his reign. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly what King Hammurabi wrote at the very beginning: all the codes of laws he issued refer to the later period of his rule. All earlier versions were lost.

The law given by the gods

Laws were carved on a huge column of black basalt. On the uppermost part of it is depicted the profile of the king, who stood before the Sun-god Shamash, who in the beliefs of the Babylonians was the patron of the court. Under this bas-relief, the text of the laws themselves is carved. The whole text is divided into three logical parts.

King Hammurabi himself believed that his laws are just and strong, that the throne was given to him by the gods for just government, so that under him and with his descendants the strong did not dare to oppress the weaker. By the way, these conditions the emperor really tried to fulfill to the full.

After this, a fairly detailed list of the blessings that the king honored the city of his country follows. By the way, who defended the laws of King Hammurabi? The answer to this question can only be given after studying the code of these rules and norms. This article describes all the most important aspects.

Mentioned cities

Among the cities, especially Lars, as well as Marie, Ashur, Nineveh. Thus, historians are fully convinced that the pillar itself was erected after the brilliant victory over Rimtsin. During this period, the influence of Babylon was exactly the same as many of those cities, mention of which can be found in the text of the code of laws. Most likely, "miniature" copies of this document were made for all more or less large cities of the kingdom, but this we will never know.

The fact is that the story of King Hammurabi tells of the most rich and quiet years for his country, when external enemies were much weaker. Subsequently, when the epoch of decline began, they were able to seize and plunder Babylon. There is nothing surprising in that the conquerors did not stand too much with the old monuments left over from the previous ruler.

Missing part

After the introduction of the stone, numerous laws are carved, and the "document" ends with a rather extensive and detailed conclusion. In general, the monument itself is very well preserved, but on the front side there are plots, the text on which is destroyed. Most likely, this was done at the behest of the king of the elam who, having conquered the territory of the present Babylon, transported the code of laws to his Susa. What laws did King Hammurabi describe in place of the destroyed articles?

Archaeologists and engineers, after conducting multistage studies, found that only 35 articles were scraped off (with a total of 282). However, do not worry: for today we have information from a lot of ancient libraries, so that we can more or less accurately determine what was said in the erased laws.

Brief list of laws

So, in the first five articles, the king establishes the general rules of all Babylonian legal proceedings. In documents with numbers from 6 to 25, the following points are considered:

• Articles 6-13 tell the reader how the thief can be identified, and how the theft should be punished. These laws are quite harsh: every purchase required the presence of witnesses. If there were none, the buyer could be recognized as a thief and executed.
• Documents 14 to 20 deal with cases of theft of children and the harboring of runaway slaves. The laws provide for both punishment for these offenses, as well as a reward for independent extradition or the capture of a slave who escaped from the master.
• Articles 21-25 again emphasize in detail the different types of robbery and other options of unauthorized appropriation of other people's property.

Land tenure issues

In another part of his code of law, the Babylonian king Hammurabi analyzes in great detail many questions of land use. That's what it says:

• Articles 26-41 disclose the rights and duties of the military class, but most of the attention in these documents is given to the issues of their land tenure.
• Documents 42 to 47 refer to the rights and duties of those citizens who are engaged in leasing land, both public and private. Their provisions are strict. So, if a person renting a fertile land, so nothing on it and did not grow it (launched fields, allowed them to overgrow), then he still must give the state or usurer the amount of grain that they are entitled to.
• Articles with numbers 48-52 stop on usury and indicate what percentage of the crop or other products the usurer has the right (provided they provide banking services). Much thanks to this, the reign of King Hammurabi was marked by an increase in collected taxes, but the welfare of his subjects grew, since they could not be shamelessly robbed.
• Documents in the range from 53 to 56 can be called "environmental", as they establish responsibility for those people who carelessly treated the irrigation network. In particular, if the breakthrough of the dam, due to which the water washed away the wheat, was caused by the negligence of its owner, then he was obliged to fully reimburse the losses to all victims from his own pocket.
• Articles 57-58 discuss in sufficient detail the penalties that livestock owners will suffer if they decide to drive them away from sown and fruit-bearing fields.
• Articles 59-66 likewise talk about the owners of gardens, their rights, and also talk about the rights to a portion of the moneylender crop, if they lent money to the landowner.

Regulation of the social sphere

All other laws can be called more "social", as the issues of land use in them are not considered, but the problems of society are affected, and from the text of the laws we can learn a lot about the customs of that time. So, here they are:

• Articles 100-107 talk about the rights and obligations of merchants (tamkars), and also mention those for their assistants.
• Documents 108-111 strictly regulate the activities of Korc (taverns), which were also brothels.
• Immediately 14 articles (Nos. 112-126) are allocated for consideration of the debt law, including the conditions for keeping the debtor's family and keeping the property belonging to it, which was taken as a pledge.
• It is not necessary to consider that the power of the king Hammurabi extended exclusively to the business aspects of the society. Thus, in laws numbered 127 to 195, family law is described in great detail.
• In articles 196-225 the ruler establishes the amount of fines and describes other types of punishments that should have been applied to persons who arbitrarily inflicted a beating on another person.
• Documents 226 and 227 describe prohibitions on the intentional destruction of stigma on slaves.
• Architects, shipbuilders and engineers were awarded separate laws under the numbers from 228 to 235.
• The remaining laws partially address hiring issues, incidentally referring also to slaves. For the legal regulation of the work of wage workers, articles from 236 to 277 were used. Thus, the pages of the code of laws specify the specific amounts of the minimum wage for the recruitment of craftsmen. Articles 278 to 282 discuss directly aspects of slavery. They say that a slave can not just be killed, that the death of someone else's slave must be compensated by the person whose fault it happened.

Some conclusions

So, who protected the laws of King Hammurabi? If you look at their short list, then the picture appears quite normal: there are many measures and rules that protect not only private property, but also human life and health; Legislatively established norms of activity for usurers, which they had no right to violate, if not death penalty, then large fines precisely.

For the Ancient World, the situation was really unique when a girl could be taken to wife only after her consent was obtained, and the marriage contract was fixed in the presence of witnesses, in writing. Otherwise, the marriage was declared illegal. In addition, the laws provided for the duty of a person who married a widow with children, to raise, feed, dress and shoe these children. Let us repeat once again that such qualitatively and fully prescribed norms did not always exist in the Middle Ages, to say nothing of the more ancient times.

Importance of laws

King Hammurabi believed that his laws would bring peace and prosperity to the state, and was right. For example, unjustified slander and denunciations were strictly forbidden: if a person said that someone was guilty of a crime, then he had to prove it by facts. Otherwise, he could be executed. It was impossible to take possession of other people's property, just so to kill a slave, to spoil a thing belonging to another person. Many of the provisions of the laws of that time somehow became part of the Roman law, which is based on the legal norm of virtually all Western states and our country.

So this ruler truly immortalized his name in the centuries, since he was perhaps the first legislator who really cared about the welfare of his people, about justice and responsibility for each member of society, whether it be a free man or a slave. In short, the history of the Babylonian king Hammurabi proves that even in the Ancient World there were states in which human rights were actually observed, and where the law was not an empty sound.

The law is a pledge of statehood

In addition, the legislative norms of this ruler protected not only the large slaveowners and landowners, but also ordinary citizens. They could not be robbed, killed, their things could not be spoiled, and they could take their wives. People felt protected, and therefore the king's authority was very high. The Babylonian king Hammurabi and his laws have proved that by regulating legal aspects it is possible to consolidate the state foundation and make it truly unshakable.

Conclusion

Not surprisingly, Babylon was a rich and powerful state at the time of its heyday. Enemies could overcome it only by intrigue and conclusion of multiple military alliances. Hammurabi did much for his country, contributed to its prosperity and constant development. On his example and in the future many advanced rulers, advocating for strengthening their power, were guided. This king first proved that statehood can be based not only on violence, but also on strict observance of laws that were one for all.