Archaeology at all times opened to humanity the secrets of a past life.One of the most valuable finds, made in the early 20th century in the ancient city of Susa, steel carved on stone pillar rules, which were later named Hammurabi.What is this kind of code, and by whom was it created?This will be discussed now.
Who is Hammurabi: brief biography
About Hammurabi, king of Babylon, the ancient state, to the ascension to the throne, little is known.In 1793 BC, he became the sole ruler until his little empire.Almost immediately, he began preparations for a war of aggression against the surrounding city-states: Larsa, Isin, Malgiuma, Rapikuma and Uruk.His plans have been implemented by the end of 1781 but AD, bringing Hammurabi united the lands of Lower Mesopotamia into a powerful empire, not knowing defeat.
assertion of royal power and the enormous influence of his empire on the economy and commodity-money relations in the region further strengthened his autocratic power.But do these campaigns of conquest became famous king.
real achievement at the time was to create a kind of constitution - Hammurabi.Carved on a stone pillar rules, which at that time lived Babylon, became not only a historical monument, but also a good source of information about the structure of the state and social life in that era.
Exterior stone pillar with the laws of Hammurabi
written in the Sumerian language, the alphabet which most resembles cuneiform.Carved on a stone pillar rules perfectly preserved, which allowed to thoroughly examine all the details of the legal and state system of Babylon during the reign of the founder of laws, as well as for many centuries after his death.
himself a pillar made of basalt, a fairly durable stone.Its upper part of the front is topped with bas-relief of Hammurabi receiving from the sun god Shamash those same laws.
The rest of the surface is covered with inscriptions, outlines how man should live in the country than when guided by any transactions, custody or divorce, and identifies the main penalties when misconduct.The text is divided into three conditional parts: introduction, the 282 rule and conclusion.It is worth noting that carved on the stone pillar rules remain not fully 35 of them have been erased.However, they managed to recover with the help of documents preserved in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
laws of King Hammurabi: what areas of life governed by the law
Hammurabi, according to the laid down rules on the basalt columns, trying to settle virtually all spheres of life in his country.Laws contain a variety of items in the field of trade relations, in particular the liability of the seller for the sale of low-quality goods, including jewelry, textiles, and even ships.Carved on a stone pillar rules in detail and explain the consequences of any criminal offenses, whether theft, deliberate or accidental murder or witchcraft.In addition, they provide responsibility for perjury.A large proportion of legislation devoted to the institution of marriage and family law and property relations.
historical value of Hammurabi
On the historical value of Hammurabi can only be judged by the fact that it is the only source of well-preserved, which allowed not only to learn about the ancient Babylonian, but also on the ancient Eastern law in general.Scientists came to the conclusion that the king of Babylon, the state took as the basis of its legislation the rules that prevailed in society at the time, but not all were required to perform.It is also possible to understand the laws of Hammurabi many aspects of life in Mesopotamia during the 2nd millennium BC.
