Code of Hammurabi

(noun)

A code of law that echoed and improved upon earlier written laws of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria.

Related Terms

Examples of Code of Hammurabi in the following topics:

  • Hammurabi's Code

    • The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of 282 laws, written in c. 1754 BCE in Babylon.
    • The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered writings of length in the world, and features a code of law from ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia.
    • Written in about 1754 BCE by the sixth king of Babylon, Hammurabi, the Code was written on stone stele and clay tablets.
    • Some of the provisions may have been codification of Hammurabi's decisions, for the purpose of self-glorification.
    • This basalt stele has the Code of Hammurabi inscribed in cuneiform script in the Akkadian language.

  • Babylon

    • Following the collapse of the Akkadians, the Babylonian Empire flourished under Hammurabi, who conquered many surrounding peoples and empires, in addition to developing an extensive code of law and establishing Babylon as a "holy city" of southern Mesopotamia.
    • One of the most important works of this First Dynasty of Babylon was the compilation in about 1754 BCE of a code of laws, called the Code of Hammurabi, which echoed and improved upon the earlier written laws of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria.
    • Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract.
    • A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family relationships.
    • The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign.

  • Ur

    • This temple was built in the 21st century BCE, during the reign of Ur-Nammu, and was reconstructed in the 6th century BCE by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon.
    • It was part of a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city of Ur, and was dedicated to Nanna, the moon god.
    • After the fall of this empire, Ur was ruled by the barbarian Gutians, until King Ur-Nammu came to power, circa 2047 - 2030 BCE (the Third Dynasty of Ur).
    • Advances during this time included the building of temples, like the Ziggurat, better agricultural irrigation, and a code of laws, called the Code of Ur-Nammu, which preceded the Code of Hammurabi by 300 years.
    • It was ruled by the first dynasty of Babylonia, then part of the Sealand Dynasty, then by the Kassites before falling to the Assyrian Empire from the 10th-7th century BE.

  • Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon

    • The Kassite Dynasty ruled Babylonia following the fall of Hammurabi and was succeeded by the Second Dynasty of Isin, during which time the Babylonians experienced military success and cultural upheavals under Nebuchadnezzar.
    • The Fall of the Kassite Dynasty and the Rise of the Second Dynasty of Isin
    • Following the collapse of the First Babylonian Dynasty under Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire entered a period of relatively weakened rule under the Kassites for 576 years— the longest dynasty in Babylonian history.
    • Nebuchadnezzar I (1124-1103 BCE) was the most famous ruler of the Second Dynasty of Isin.
    • His construction activities are memorialized in building inscriptions of the Ekituš-ḫegal-tila, the temple of Adad in Babylon, and on bricks from the temple of Enlil in Nippur.

  • The Justinian Code

    • There existed three codices of imperial laws and other individual laws, many of which conflicted or were out of date.
    • Digesta: an encyclopedia composed of mostly brief extracts from the writings of Roman jurists.
    • As opposed to the rest of the corpus, the Novellae appeared in Greek, the common language of the Eastern Empire.
    • It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as expressed in the Basilika of Basil I and Leo VI the Wise.
    • The only western province where the Justinian Code was introduced was Italy, from where it was to pass to Western Europe in the 12th century and become the basis of much European law code.

  • The Sun-King and Authoritarianism

    • His mother, Anne of Austria, was named regent in spite of her late husband's wishes.
    • On the death of Mazarin in 1661, Louis assumed personal control of the reins of government and astonished his court by declaring that he would rule without a chief minister.
    • Louis also attempted to uniform regulation of civil procedure throughout legally irregular France by issuing a comprehensive legal code, the 'Grande Ordonnance de Procédure Civile' of 1667, also known as the Code Louis.
    • The Code Louis played an important part in French legal history as the basis for the Napoleonic code, itself the origin of many modern legal codes.
    • One of Louis's most infamous decrees was the Grande Ordonnance sur les Colonies of 1685, also known as the Code Noir ("black code").

  • Justinian and Theodora

    • Emperor Justinian's most important contribution, perhaps, was a unified Roman legal code.
    • The Romans had attempted to systematize the legal code in the fifth century but had not completed the effort.
    • Justinian set up a commission of lawyers to put together a single code, listing each law by subject so that it could be easily referenced.
    • Justinian's law code continues to have a major influence on public international law to this day.
    • The impact of a more unified legal code and military conflicts was the increased ability for the Byzantine Empire to establish trade and improve their economic standing.

  • Yaroslav the Wise

    • Yaroslav I, also known as Yaroslav the Wise, developed the first legal codes, beautified Kievan Rus', and formed major political alliances with the West during his nearly 40-year reign.
    • He also created some of the first legal codes in Kievan Rus'.
    • These first steps also most likely led to the first legal code in Kievan Rus' under Yaroslav.
    • This initial legal code would live on and be refined into the Russkaya Pravda in the 12th century.
    • Elizabeth, Anna, and Anastasia married Harald III of Norway, Henry I of France, and Andrew I of Hungary respectively.

  • The Romanovs

    • Sources say he was a boyar under the leadership of the Rurikid prince Semyon I of Moscow in 1347.
    • However, Alexis I established a new legal code called Subornoye Ulozheniye, which created a serf class, made hereditary class unchangeable, and required official state documentation to travel between towns.
    • These codes stayed in effect well into the 19th century.
    • His policies toward the Church and peasant uprisings created new legal codes and traditions that lasted well into the 19th century.
    • Explain the rise of power of the House of Romanov and the first major Russian Tsars of this dynasty

  • Intellectual Life

    • The intellectual problems discussed throughout this period were the relation of faith to reason, the existence and simplicity of God, the purpose of theology and metaphysics, and the issues of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation.
    • The groundwork for the rebirth of learning was also laid by the process of political consolidation and centralization of the monarchies of Europe.
    • Royal and noble courts saw the development of chivalry and the ethos of courtly love.
    • Often the stories were written down in the chansons de geste, or "songs of great deeds," such as "The Song of Roland" or "The Song of Hildebrand."
    • This led to the recording and standardization of legal codes throughout Western Europe.