How was the legal system of the Hittites different from the Code of Laws instituted by Hammurabi king of the Babylonians?

Answer 1

"An eye for an eye ..." is a paraphrase of Hammurabi's Code, a collection of 282 laws inscribed on an upright stone pillar. The code was found by French archaeologists in 1901 while excavating the ancient city of Susa, which is in modern-day Iran. Hammurabi is the best known and most celebrated of all Mesopotamian kings. He ruled the Babylonian Empire from 1792-50 B.C.E. Although he was concerned with keeping order in his kingdom, this was not his only reason for compiling the list of laws. When he began ruling the city-state of Babylon, he had control of no more than 50 square miles of territory. As he conquered other city-states and his empire grew, he saw the need to unify the various groups he controlled.

Answer 2

The Hittites were a warlike people, from the city of Hattusa in Anatolia. They were big fans of chariots, which they used to great effect. They were also excellent metalworkers. They were also perhaps the first empire to see the value of iron. The Hittites sacked Babylon, tearing apart the Babylonian Empire, but made no attempt to establish them there, preferring to remain in Anatolia.

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They borrowed writing along with many forms of art and architecture from the Sumerians. Yet, as an empire separate from the Sumerians, and ancient in its own right, the Hittites also developed their own architecture. Their most noteworthy contributions are the bit-hilani, a sort of pillared front porch, and the double gateway with corbeled arch - the best surviving example of which is the Lion Gate at Hattusa, the ancient Hittite capital. Hittites raids of the Babylonian Empire plunged the region into chaos, allowing new groups to emerge.

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The Mesopotamian city-state of Babylon twice expanded to become an important world empire before being absorbed by Persia. Its two great expansions were sufficiently remarkable to earn it a place in history beside the two other great Mesopotamian cultures, the Sumerians and Assyrians. The Babylonians took their name from their capital and only major city, Babylon, located on the Euphrates River west of Sumeria and south of Assyria. It was well-placed on the river for agriculture and for trade, but had no natural defenses. A strong leader and strong army were needed to defend it.

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Babylonia was founded as a kingdom around 1900 BC by Semitic Amorite barbarians who overran much of Canaan, Akkad, and Sumer one hundred years earlier. In 1792 BC the small kingdom was inherited by Hammurabi who ruled until 1750. During those 42 years, Hammurabi extended the kingdom to encompass all of Sumer to the east and Akkad to the north. He also defeated the barbarian Gutians in the Zagros Mountains to the northeast who had previously sacked Akkad. He also pushed back the Elamites and the Assyrians.

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The basic economy of Babylonia was typical for Mesopotamia at the time. Irrigation and dikes controlled the waters of the Euphrates River, providing bountiful harvests of grain, vegetables, and fruit in normal years. These foods were supplemented by herds of sheep and some cattle. The Babylonians traded food surpluses for raw materials like copper, gold, and wood, which they used to manufacture weapons, household objects, jewelry, and other items that could be traded.

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The Babylonians inherited the technical achievements of the Sumerians in irrigation and agriculture. Maintaining the system of canals, dikes, weirs, and reservoirs constructed by their predecessors demanded considerable engineering knowledge and skill. Preparation of maps, surveys, and plans involved the use of leveling instruments and measuring rods. For mathematical and arithmetical purposes they used the Sumerian sexagesimal system of numbers, which featured a useful device of so-called place-value notation that resembles the present-day decimal system. Measures of length, area, capacity, and weight, standardized earlier by the Sumerians, remained in use. Farming was a complicated and methodical occupation requiring foresight, diligence, and skill. A recently translated document written in Sumerian but used as a textbook in the Babylonian schools is a veritable farmer's almanac; it records a series of instructions and directions to guide farm activities from the watering of the fields to the winnowing of the harvested crops.

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The Hittites greatly modified the system of law they inherited from the Old Babylonians. The most extensive literature that the Hittites have left us is, in fact, decrees and laws. These laws were far more merciful than the laws of the Old Babylonians, perhaps because the Hittites were less concerned about maintaining a rigid, despotic central authority. While you could lose your life for just about everything under the Old Babylonian system of laws, including getting rowdy in a tavern, under the Hittites only a small handful of crimes were capital crimes. Even premeditated murder only resulted in a fine - a large fine, to be sure, but far preferable than losing your head. They modified the role of the monarch in that they gave the king ownership of all the land under his control.

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Previously, under the Sumerians and Amorites, private property was allowed and the monarch only owned his own private property. Individuals were allowed control over land, which belong to the king, only by serving in the king's army. So the bulk of the population became tenant farmers.

Answer 3

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