The Code of Hammurabi was another brutish attempt at civilization by tribes settling down in one spot for too long.
I wonder what they did do to claim jumpers.
If any one ensnares another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
If any one brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
If any one brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a capital offense is charged, be put to death.
If a Builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then the builder shall be put to death.(Another variant of this is, If the owner's son dies, then the builder's son shall be put to death.)
If a man give his child to a nurse and the child dies in her hands, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurses another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her breasts shall be cut off.
If any one steals the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.
If a man takes a woman to wife, but has no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
If a man strikes a pregnant woman, thereby causing her to miscarry and die, the assailant's daughter shall be put to death.
There are 282 such laws in the Code of Hammurabi, each no more than a sentence or two.
The 282 laws are bracketed by a Prologue in which Hammurabi introduces himself, and an Epilogue in which he affirms his authority and sets forth his hopes and prayers for his code of laws.
en.wikipedia.org |
