The Code of Hammurabi

Core postulates of Western culture encourage knowledge of the universe, an impulse toward certainty about the position of people in the universe, and implications of that position. While the cultural divide between Western thought as articulated in and by ancient Greek civilization and the thought and praxis of the ancient civilizations preceding that of Greece seems clear, something approaching a postulate of a knowable cosmos also can be discerned in the first high civilizations of the Near East, notably Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The first Babylonian Empire was distinguished by the Code of Hammurabi. Wells calls Hammurabi Babylonia's first "great king" (141) and locates his reign around 2100 B.C. Hayes et al. say that Hammurabi was Babylonia's sixth king, ruling 1947-1905 B.C. Another source dates Hammurabi's reign at 1750-1708 B.C. (Hammurabi 166). But the precise years are less important than what Hammurabi's reign--and especially the Code--represent in the context of Western civilization. Wells characterizes Hammurabi's rule as "a firm grip upon the affairs of the community," during which he w

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ny misfortune that might befall a military expedition is considered the king's misfortune, not the soldiers'. Personal loyalty to the king is in the background of the statement that military officers may not hire mercenary soldiers to fight in their place (Edwards 33) and that the penalty for a commander who attempts to man an army with mercenaries will be execution. Obligations are not all on one side. In return for absolute loyalty, the king maintains the soldier's property claims at home. The Code details preservation of a loyal military man's rights to his property. While the soldier is on a military campaign, others may only manage his farm fields (Edwards 32). When he returns, he may resume authority over his lands. If family members (particularly sons) can manage the fields for their father, they can realize full benefit from the lands (Edwards 32). If they are minors, their mother can manage these same lands until they reach their majority (Edwards 32). Women in such a situation, while unable to inherit during their sons' lifetime, do receive a kind of "administratrix fee" for their efforts on behalf of their sons and absent husband, in the form of a third of the estate (Edwards 32). Thus, the integrity of the military man
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Approximate Word count = 2731
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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