For approximately 35 years, Amita Vadlamudi worked in the IT industry providing support for various mainframe and distributed systems products. When not at work, Amita Vadlamudi enjoys learning about ancient cultures, like the Babylonians.
Babylonia was the most powerful city in Mesopotamia, which was where the first known civilizations developed. The city rose in influence after King Hammurabi took the throne in 1792 BC. During his rule he united the city-states of Mesopotamia, and led the Babylonians in constructing roads, temples, and an aqueduct system. He also helped make Babylonia into the cultural center of Mesopotamia. But King Hammurabi’s greatest accomplishment was codifying one of the first sets of written laws.
The Code of Hammurabi was developed to help unify the Mesopotamian city-states and keep order in the kingdom. King Hammurabi had legal experts gather the existing laws, which were modified or eliminated as he saw fit and ultimately compiled into the 282 laws that make up the Code. In some ways, the laws were quite progressive. King Hammurabi’s stated purpose of the Code was to protect the weak from the strong. Upper-class citizens received more stringent punishments than commoners, and women were granted property rights and the right to divorce.
Other laws contained a brutality that was typical of the times. A son that struck his father was punished by having his hands cut off. Doctors who committed malpractice were punished in the same manner. Those who accused others of a capital offense would be put to death for failing to prove the offense. In many cases, guilt or innocence could be determined by jumping into the Euphrates River. If the accused was able to return to shore, he or she was innocent of the offense; if not, the accused was deemed guilty. The Code was quite comprehensive, and also established laws that dealt with family matters, payment for professional work, ownership of slaves, and farming livestock.
The Code of Hammurabi was discovered in 1901 by French archaeologists while excavating in modern-day Iran. It is among the longest ancient writings ever deciphered.
Babylonia was the most powerful city in Mesopotamia, which was where the first known civilizations developed. The city rose in influence after King Hammurabi took the throne in 1792 BC. During his rule he united the city-states of Mesopotamia, and led the Babylonians in constructing roads, temples, and an aqueduct system. He also helped make Babylonia into the cultural center of Mesopotamia. But King Hammurabi’s greatest accomplishment was codifying one of the first sets of written laws.
The Code of Hammurabi was developed to help unify the Mesopotamian city-states and keep order in the kingdom. King Hammurabi had legal experts gather the existing laws, which were modified or eliminated as he saw fit and ultimately compiled into the 282 laws that make up the Code. In some ways, the laws were quite progressive. King Hammurabi’s stated purpose of the Code was to protect the weak from the strong. Upper-class citizens received more stringent punishments than commoners, and women were granted property rights and the right to divorce.
Other laws contained a brutality that was typical of the times. A son that struck his father was punished by having his hands cut off. Doctors who committed malpractice were punished in the same manner. Those who accused others of a capital offense would be put to death for failing to prove the offense. In many cases, guilt or innocence could be determined by jumping into the Euphrates River. If the accused was able to return to shore, he or she was innocent of the offense; if not, the accused was deemed guilty. The Code was quite comprehensive, and also established laws that dealt with family matters, payment for professional work, ownership of slaves, and farming livestock.
The Code of Hammurabi was discovered in 1901 by French archaeologists while excavating in modern-day Iran. It is among the longest ancient writings ever deciphered.
