HAMMURABI’S CODE & BABYLONIAN LAW
(adapted from Yale Law School's website with commentary)
CLICK HERE for list of laws
[
Ca. 1762 b.c.e.—
[
population of
[
uniform system of
law
[
groups of aliens
to the number of twenty at a time were free to enter the city
[
foreign women
once married to Babylonian husbands could not be enslaved
[
not even a dog
that entered the city could be put to death untried
[
king=benevolent
autocrat, easily accessible to all his subjects, both able and willing to
protect the weak against the highest-placed oppressor
[
royal power can
only pardon when private resentment is appeased
[
judges are
strictly supervised and appeal is allowed
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feudal holdings,
masters of the levy, police
[
regular postal
system
[
pax Babylonica is so assured
that private individuals do not hesitate to ride in their carriage from
[
position of women
is free and dignified
[
universal habit
of writing and perpetual recourse to written contract
[
deed of agreement was drawn up in the temple by a notary
public, and confirmed by an oath "by god and the king."
SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
o
whole population
as falling into three classes: amelu, muskinu and ardu
o
AMELU=patrician,
the man of family
§
birth, marriage
and death were registered
§
ancestral estates
and full civil rights
§
aristocratic
privileges and responsibilities
§
right to exact
retaliation for corporal injuries
§
liability to
heavier punishment for crimes and misdemeanours
§
higher fees and
fines to pay
§
To this class
belonged the king and court, the higher officials, the professions and
craftsmen
§
no property qualification
nor does the term appear to be racial
o
MUSKINU
§
difficult to
characterize the muskinu exactly, but probably most
akin to serfs in Medieval Europe
§
term came in time
to mean "a beggar" and with that meaning has passed through Aramaic
and Hebrew into many modern languages
§
not necessarily
poor but probably landless
§
free, but had to
accept monetary compensation for corporal injuries
§
paid smaller fees
and fines, even paid less offerings to the gods
§
inhabited a
separate quarter of the city
o
ARDU=slave, his
master's chattel
§
formed the most
numerous class
§
could acquire
property and even hold other slaves
§
master clothed
and fed him, paid his doctor's fees, but took all compensation paid for injury
done to him
§
master usually
found him a slave-girl as wife (the children were then born slaves)
§
master often set
him up in a house (with farm or business) and simply took an annual rent of him
§
OR… he might
marry a freewoman (the children were then free), who might bring him a dower
which his master could not touch
§
at his death
one-half of his property passed to his master as his heir
§
could acquire his
freedom by purchase from his master, or might be freed and dedicated to a
temple, or even adopted, when he became an amelu and
not a muskinu
§
Slaves were
recruited by purchase abroad, from captives taken in war and by freemen
degraded for debt or crime
§
slave often ran
away; if caught, the captor was bound to restore him to his master on penalty
of death
§
slaves bore
identification marks, which could only be removed by a surgical operation and
which later consisted of his owner's name tattooed or branded on the arm
WOMEN & MARRIAGE
[
Marriage=purchase/contract
to be man and wife
[
marriage of young
people was usually arranged between the relatives, the bride- groom's father providing
the bride-price
[
dowry might
include real estate, but generally consisted of personal effects and household
furniture
[
dowry remained
the wife's for life, descending to her children, if any
[
marriage ceremony
included joining of hands and the utterance of some formula of acceptance on
the part of the bridegroom, as "I am the son of nobles, silver and gold
shall fill thy lap, thou shalt be my wife, I will be
thy husband. Like the fruit of a garden I will give
thee offspring."
[
Marriage ceremony
must be performed by a freeman
[
marriage contract
stated the consequences to which each party was liable for repudiating the
other
o
many conditions
might be inserted
o
the wife should
act as maidservant to her mother-in-law, or to a first wife
o
man responsible for
debts contracted by his wife, even before her marriage, as well as for his own
o
husbands could
use wives and children as mancipium
o
wife should not
be seized for her husband's prenuptial debts; but enacted that then he was not
responsible for her prenuptial debts, and, in any case, that both together were
responsible for all debts contracted after marriage
o
man might make
his wife a settlement by deed of gift, which gave her a life interest in part
of his property, and he might reserve to her the right to bequeath it to a favourite child, but she could in no case leave it to her
family
o
although married,
she always remained a member of her father's house--she is rarely named wife of
A, usually daughter of B, or mother of C
[
divorce was
optional with the man, but he had to restore the dowry and, if the wife had
borne him children, she had the custody of them
o
men paid alimony
and child support until the children grew up
o
once divorced,
she was free to marry again
[
If she had been a
bad wife
o
the husband send
her away, while he kept the children and her dowry
o
…or he could
degrade her to the position of a slave in his own house, where she would have
food and clothing
[
The wife could
charge her husband with cruelty and neglect
o
If she proved her
case, she obtained a judicial separation, taking with her her
dowry
o
No other
punishment fell on the man
o
If, however, she
did not prove her case, but proved to be a bad wife, she was drowned
[
Monogamy was the
rule, and a childless wife might give her husband a maid (who was no wife) to
bear him children, who were reckoned hers
[
She remained
mistress of her maid and might degrade her to slavery again for insolence, but
could not sell her if she had borne her husband children.
[
The concubine was
a wife, though not of the same rank; the first wife had no power over her
[
A concubine was a
free woman, was often dowered for marriage and her children were legitimate
[
no hindrance to a
man having children by a slave girl. These children
were free, in any case, and their mother could not be sold, though she might be
pledged, and she was free on her master's death
[
Vestal virgins
were not supposed to have children, yet they could and often did marry, &
such a wife would give a husband a surrogate to bear his children
[
Free women might
marry slaves and be dowered for the marriage
[
A father had
control over his children till their marriage. He had
a right to their labour in return for their keep. He might hire them out and receive their wages, pledge
them for debt, even sell them outright. Mothers had the
same rights in the absence of the father; even elder brothers when both parents
were dead.
[
The daughter was
not only in her father's power to be given in marriage, but he might dedicate her
to the service of some god as a vestal or a hierodule; or give her as a
concubine. She had no choice in these matters, which were often decided in her childhood.
[
A grown-up
daughter might wish to become a votary, perhaps in preference to an uncongenial
marriage, and it seems that her father could not refuse her wish.
[
In all these
cases the father might dower her
[
If he did not, on
his death the brothers were bound to do so, giving her a full child's share if
a wife, a concubine or a vestal, but one-third of a child's share if she were a
hierodule or a Marduk priestess (who had the
privilege of exemption from state dues and absolute disposal of her property)
[
All other
daughters had only a life interest in their dowry, which reverted to their
family, if childless, or went to their children if they had any.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/b/babylon_iraq.aspx
The city of
Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt
http://www.understandingwar.org/