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A review by sidharthvardhan
The Code of Hammurabi by Hammurabi
4.0
Created out of divine authority, world's first code of laws is quite an amusing read.
It surprised me with some of its humane laws:
If a man has incurred a debt and a storm has flooded his field or carried away the crop, or the corn has not grown because of drought, in that year he shall not pay his creditor. Further, he shall post-date his bond and shall not pay interest for that year.
I mean okay there is capital sentence even for such minor crimes as burgalaries and theft but that is to be expected from any laws written 3700 years ago (to put the figure in context - that is two centuries before Vedas and a thousand years before Homer) - and not only there were laws but there was administration to impose it.
The state actually took responsibity of doing justice, taking loss on itself where it couldn't capture criminal (which kind of makes you understand its severity when they were caught):
If the highwayman has not been
caught, the man that has been robbed shall state on oath what he has lost and the city or district governor in whose territory or district the robbery took place shall restore to him what he has lost.
I also found it interesting to find notion of average rent which probably was gained from experience of execution of older rent laws:
If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no corn to grow on the field, he shall be held responsible for not doing the work on the field and shall pay an average rent.
It surprised me with some of its humane laws:
If a man has incurred a debt and a storm has flooded his field or carried away the crop, or the corn has not grown because of drought, in that year he shall not pay his creditor. Further, he shall post-date his bond and shall not pay interest for that year.
I mean okay there is capital sentence even for such minor crimes as burgalaries and theft but that is to be expected from any laws written 3700 years ago (to put the figure in context - that is two centuries before Vedas and a thousand years before Homer) - and not only there were laws but there was administration to impose it.
The state actually took responsibity of doing justice, taking loss on itself where it couldn't capture criminal (which kind of makes you understand its severity when they were caught):
If the highwayman has not been
caught, the man that has been robbed shall state on oath what he has lost and the city or district governor in whose territory or district the robbery took place shall restore to him what he has lost.
I also found it interesting to find notion of average rent which probably was gained from experience of execution of older rent laws:
If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no corn to grow on the field, he shall be held responsible for not doing the work on the field and shall pay an average rent.