Did King Hammurabi Enact A Revolutionary Code Of Laws?
The codex of the Babylonian King Hammurabi (who lived from 1810-1750 BC), which is engraved on a black basalt column, is the most comprehensive collection of laws of early historical times, and contains an impressively precise code of laws. Criminal law based on the principle of “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” however, was by no means an advanced, as was believed for a very long time. We have since discovered the code of laws laid down by King Urnammu of Ur, which was created around 2050 BC. This punishes injuries with fines, and also calls for the death penalty far more infrequently than Hammurabi’s code of laws. So, yes, King Hammurabi did indeed enact a revolutionary code of laws. It is the most comprehensive collection of laws that have been discovered from the early historical times. The concepts are still used today.
