Code of Hammurabi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Code of Hammurabi
Side view of the stele "fingertip"
Created	c. 1754 BC
Authors	Hammurabi
Purpose	Law code

An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is a very old set of laws from ancient Babylonia. It was created around 1754 BC. This makes it one of the oldest and longest written laws ever found.

The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, created these laws. They were carved onto a huge stone pillar, called a stele, which was about seven and a half feet tall. The code has 282 laws. It describes punishments that were different depending on a person's social status, like if they were a slave or a free person. A famous idea from the code is "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The large stone pillar was placed in a public spot so everyone could see it. Later, another group of people called the Elamites took the stele to their capital city, Susa. It was found there again in 1901. Today, you can see it in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Code of Hammurabi was written by scribes on 12 clay tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it was written in Akkadian. This was the everyday language spoken in Babylonia.

Figures at top of stele above Hammurabi's code of laws

This code is the longest text we have from the Old Babylonian period. It is an early example of a government's laws, like a very old constitution. The code also shows one of the first ideas of "presumption of innocence." This means someone is innocent until proven guilty. It suggests that both the person accused and the person accusing them could present evidence.

How These Laws Were Made

The Code of Hammurabi was one of several law collections in the ancient Near East. These laws were organized into groups. This helped people understand what was expected of them.

There were other laws before and after Hammurabi's code. An example is the Law of Moses found in the Hebrew Bible. These ancient law codes came from cultures in a small area. Because of this, some of their rules are quite similar.

What the Laws Covered

Almost half of Hammurabi's Code deals with contracts. These are agreements between people. For example, it set the wages for an ox driver or a surgeon. Other parts of the code explained what happens if a builder's house falls down. It also covered what happens if property is damaged while someone else is taking care of it.

About one-third of the code talks about family matters. This includes rules about inheritance, divorce, and who a child's father is.

"An Eye for an Eye"

For every crime, the code listed a specific punishment. These punishments were very strict compared to today's laws. They included death, cutting off a body part, and the idea of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The penalties might seem harsh to us now. However, the fact that King Hammurabi wrote down the laws for his kingdom was a huge step forward. It helped develop civilization. The Code of Hammurabi was one of many law codes in the Ancient Near East.

Examples of Laws

Here are some examples of laws from the Code of Hammurabi:

• If someone steals from a temple or the court, they will be put to death. The person who receives the stolen item will also be put to death. (Law 6)
• If a son hits his father, his hands will be cut off. (Law 195)
• If a man puts out another man's eye, his own eye will be put out. (Law 196)
• If he breaks another man's bone, his bone will be broken. (Law 197)
• If he puts out the eye of a freed man, or breaks the bone of a freed man, he must pay one gold mina (a type of money). (Law 198)
• If he puts out the eye of a man's slave, or breaks the bone of a man's slave, he must pay half of the slave's value. (Law 199)
• If a man knocks out the teeth of someone of equal status, his own teeth will be knocked out. (Law 200)

Images for kids

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  Father Jean-Vincent Scheil, who first translated the Code in modern times

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  The carving on the Louvre stele

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  Ea/Enki, the god of wisdom whom Hammurabi asks to confuse anyone who damages his stele. This image is from a cylinder seal around 2300 BC.

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  A British Museum display of tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal. This library lists a copy of "judgments of Hammurabi" over a thousand years after Hammurabi died.

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  The text. The way the Code's cuneiform (wedge-shaped writing) was arranged was old-fashioned even when it was written.

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  The beginning part of the Code of Lipit-Ishtar, another ancient law code.

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  Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai, shown in the Byzantine Leo Bible.

See also

In Spanish: Código de Hammurabi para niños