Code

Many people may not know it, but they have heard part of Hammurabi’s Law Code before. It is where the fabled “eye-for-an-eye” statement came from. However, this brutal way of enforcing laws was not always the case in ancient Mesopotamia, where Hammurabi ruled. The Laws of Ur-Nammu are much milder and project a greater sense of tolerance in an earlier time. The changing Mesopotamian society dictated this change to a harsher, more defined law …

…old laws, society was too unorganized and too difficult to control for Hammurabi. The ancient Mesopotamian science of listing and creating order was now tested on society. In the end, Hammurabi considered his law code a great success, proclaiming that “I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon them.” While there is no doubt Hammurabi exaggerated his claim, he did structure a type of society that lasted much longer than his rule.