Question

What was Hammurabiís Code, and why was it unusual at the time it was established?

Answer 1

Actually, many of the popular claims for Hammurabi's "Law Code", and even what you find in many general textbooks, are uncertain or outright mistaken.. based on the state of scholarship in the early 20th century, before many other documents and facts came to light.

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In fact, this "code" was NOT all that unusual in HIS time, as we'll see below.

It WAS important in the centuries after Hammurabi, at least for 'student' use (something scholars studied). And it is important to US for what it shows us of views and practice of justice in the ancient Near East, having survived in more detail than similar materials that preceded it

In popular thought the 18th century BC "Code of Hammurabi" is regarded the oldest "law code".

But in fact it was one of several early "cuneiform law codes" and related forms. We know of at least four earlier works under Sumerian kings in Mesopotamia