Ancient Law Codes essays

Ancient Law Codes essays Laws have been around for many centuries. A law is known to be a set of official rules and regulations, which are generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions and that is applied and enforced amongst all members of society. The nature and functions of law have varied throughout history. Laws develop as society evolves. Historically, the simplest societies were tribal. The members of the tribe were bonded together originally by the understanding and worship of the same gods. Even in the absence of courts and legislature there was lawa combination of custom, morality, religion and magic. There are three predominant Ancient law codes that are known by many people. These codes are: The Code of Hammurabi, The 10 Commandments and the Old Testament and The Book of the Dead. The earliest known codification of law is the Code of Hammurabi. It has been around for about 4000 years. The Code of Hammurabi was known to be the mist earliest record of codification. This code was known as an Eye for an Eye. This meant that the more severe the crime was the harsher the punishment was. The Code of Hammurabi was an attempt to bring order to Babylonian society. The laws and punishment were very direct and plain. The punishments seem harsh to us today, but they were no better or worse to other societies. Our modern laws are more open to interpretation and the punishments seem to be less harsh and fairer. The Code of Hammurabi contained no laws that had to do with religion. The law offered protection to all classes of Babylonian society. It seeked to protect the weak and the poor, including women, children and slaves against the injustice at the hands of the rich and poor. The code was particularly humane for the time in which it was announced. The 10 Commandments or the Law of Moses were written about 300 years after Hammurabi. Many people figured that since these were laws given by God down to ...