More on Hammurabi's Code: A Modern View

As you may already know, Ace went to visit King Hammurabi and find out some interesting facts about Hammurabi’s Code. He told you all about how it came to be. While Ace was in ancient Babylonia, I flew to modern Paris to see Hammurabi’s Code on display at the Louvre Museum. I am going to tell you a little more about it from a modern perspective, including comparing some of the ancient codes to modern laws. I will begin by telling you about Where Hammurabi’s code was discovered and when it was brought to Paris.

Hammurabi’s Code is written in Cuneiform and Akkadian. Gustave Jéquier discovered Hammurabi’s Code in 1901 in Khuzestan, Iran (ancient Susa, Elam) on an expedition led by Jacques de Morgan. In the same year, it was transported to the Louvre Museum in Paris. It is on display in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre Museum in Paris today.

There are a lot of interesting facts about Hammurabi’s Code. Did you know that Hammurabi’s Code is shaped like an index finger? Unlike most Mesopotamian documents, which are made of clay, Hammurabi’s code was made of stone, which was to make it seem as though the laws were given to Hammurabi by the sun god, Shamash. There are 44 columns of text and 28 paragraphs. The entire code consists of 282 laws, but some Egyptologists believe that there were more that just rubbed off. There is no 13th law because back then (and still now) 13 was considered an unlucky and evil number.

Hammurabi's Code at Musée de Louvre (photo taken December 2011)

Many of the laws inscribed on Hammurabi’s Code are similar to many modern laws. One example is law number 14. Law 14 says that if anyone steals the minor son of another, he shall be put to death. That is very similar to the law in California. If you were to steal someone’s son today, it would be called kidnapping, which is a felony that carries a sentence of 5 years to life in prison. Law 22 states that if anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death. That is similar to the modern California law stating that robbery is a felony, and depending on what is stolen, and how the crime is committed, each count can carry a sentence of from 3 to 9 years in prison. But some of the laws are very different. For example, law 17 says that if anyone finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and brings them to their master, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver. Today, slaves are no longer legal, due to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed in 1865.

Hammurabi’s Code was, and still is, a fascinating piece of history. It was the first known set of written laws ever to exist. On average, 12,000 people visit Hammurabi’s Code each day at the Louvre, which has over 8,000,000 visitors each year. The Louvre is the world’s most visited museum, with a record of 8.5 million people in 2008. One of the Louvre’s star attractions is Hammurabi’s Code, which has been standing since 1772 B.C.E. It has been in the Louvre since 1901 C.E. It was amazing to see something so important from history that is now over 3,000 years old.

What is something amazing that you have seen in a museum?

By Adele Wells

Sources Used:

U.S. Constitution, Amendment 13.

California Penal Code, Section 211-215.

California Penal Code, Section 207-210.

Spielvogel, Jackson J. Journey Across Time. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.

Bauer, Susan Wise. The Story of the World. Virginia: Peace Hill Press, 2006. Print.

“The Code of Hammurabi.” The Avalon Project: Yale Law School. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp

“History of the Louvre.” Musée de Louvre. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012

http://www.louvre.fr/en/history-louvre

“Hammurabi’s Code.” Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation Library. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012 http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/hammurabis_code.htm

“The Code of Hammurabi.” The Web Chronology Project. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012

http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/middleeast/hammurabicode.html