The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample

The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample

The Hammurabi Code is a collection of laws, 282, established commercial transaction standards, and set punishments and fines to meet justice requirements. The Code of Hammurabi was carved on a finger-shaped, massive black stone pillar (stele), which the invaders had looted, but in 1901, it got rediscovered. It was of great significance law code in Mesopotamia during the Babylonian reign. The king known as king Hammurabi wrote the list of rules and laws, and it was special as the first Code of law to include regulations that outline how to deal with each individual in the current social setting. The Hammurabi code is most famous because of the “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” type of punishment.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

The Code of Hammurabi usually tells us a lot concerning the ancient Babylonians’ daily lives. Moreover, the laws had punishments which varied based on the different social status of individuals. There were three social classes: property owners, free men, and slaves (Hammurabi). They clearly show that they favored people from the upperclassmen social group. It was known as the amelu group, where the individuals in the group were elite with many civil rights whose death, marriage, and birth were recorded. Despite having certain privileges, he was also liable to higher fines and harsher forms of punishment. The group consisted of the king, high officials, craftsmen, professionals, and the king’s court.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

The freeman was referred to as mushkenu, who could have been landless. He was obligated to receive monetary compensation. He also paid smaller fines for punishment and lived separately in the city. The slave was the ardu whose upkeep was paid by his master and also was given some compensation. The slave had the right to own other slaves and property and purchase his freedom. Many slaves were also gotten from wars, debts, and various events (Hammurabi). Moreover, the laws depict that the treatment of Babylonians to slaves. They were harsh to them and had no other way to escape since the rules scared people enough to even think of helping the slaves (Pfeiffer, 314). In the instance when a slave runs away, he/she was branded with the title “runaway slave.”(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

The laws also show that the truth and honesty were of significant value to the Babylonians. For instance, the rules depict that the Babylon people used to work to get all they had (Pfeiffer, 312). It also illustrates that ownership and property were of great importance. Some forms of thefts were punished by death. All transactions done in businesses required delivery of a receipt, which established proof of possession or sale. If a person is responsible for destruction of another individual due to negligence, he/she was obligated to pay for the loss caused (Yankwich, 20). It shows that the Babylonians’ society showed that they cared deeply for the property’s rightful possession.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

The Code of Hammurabi shows that women did not have so many rights to themselves but usually did not blame them, particularly in their marriage cases. They did not have the right to move freely as they wished or owed themselves many things like lands, jobs, marriage, or children (Yankwich, 20). The Code also shows that children had an economic value as it assumes marriages were purposefully meant for bearing children. The Code also allowed a man to take another woman and marry if his wife was barren. Also, barren women could commonly get her husband a slave-girl to bear him children. Since the Babylonian economy was mainly agricultural, the children had some economic value. Upper-class owners desired sons maybe for labor provision who could also assist in managing their estates and become heirs of them later on.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Compared to contemporary American laws, the Code of Hammurabi’s laws has some similarities and differences. For instance, they both laid outlaws that had to be followed. They both offered a layout of specific punishment forms for some particular crimes (Jenkins, 330). They both have a strong desire for justice application. They are seen as similar because of punishments conducted on many things. There was death punishment, which is also present in modern society. Furthermore, just like in modern America, the Code of Hammurabi laid out the procedure for trials. They both spell out impartial judges and witnesses’ requirements. The laws have been kept to help people to understand how they should act in different circumstances.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

However, Hammurabi’s laws are distinct from current American laws in different ways. The main difference is the form of slavery present in Hammurabi’s Code yet absent in modern America (Jenkins, 330). Contemporary America rules out slavery laws as no one is allowed to enslave another individual. Every person in modern America has an equal right to the other irrespective of their status. Moreover, women had few rights as compared to current American laws. Women had no right to own property, children, or their marriages. They were treated as property to their husbands and were married to bear children for them. However, in modern America, women are treated as equals to men in terms of freedom and property ownership. They can also lead men in various political or societal leadership positions. Furthermore, according to Jenkins (330), there was little or no room for any second trials in the Code of Hammurabi. It is different in modern America, where any individual has the right to a second trial in a court case.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Works Cited

Hammurabi, Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi. Internet History Sourcebooks Project, 2015.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Jenkins, Owen B. “The Code of Hammurabi, Compared with American Law.” Am. L. Rev. 39 (1905): 330.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Pfeiffer, Robert Henry. “An analysis of the Hammurabi Code.” The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 36.4 (1920): 310-315.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Yankwich, Leon R. “The cultural background and some of the social phases of the code of Hammurabi.” S. Cal. L. Rev. 4 (1930): 20.(The Hammurabi Code Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/