Medical Malpractice Lawyers Ny

Medical Malpractice Lawyers Ny

Medical Malpractice Lawyers Ny

Posted on: December 17, 2011 - 8:13 pm
by Admin

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest and most complete ancient law codes ever discovered. Hammurabi was the greatest of the Babylonian kings, reigning in the late 18th and early 17th centuries BCE. The codex, unearthed in 1901, is intriguing in that it not only gives a view into the customs and taboos of Mesopotamian civilization but also provides insights into the ideological origins of other ancient law codes and quite possibly even modern law. The structure of the Code is no doubt familiar to modern lawyers as it begins with a preamble followed by an enumerated list of specific clauses.

The Code’s Preamble

In the preamble, Hammurabi establishes his authority to hand down the laws governing Babylon and states the purpose of the code. Three and half millennia before the idea of “we the people” would be enshrined in western civilization, Hammurabi invokes divine revelation from the god Marduk, the leading deity of the region, as the source of the laws. And while the authority claims may be different from modern law codes, the purpose closely resembles modern western constitutions, establishing justice, defending the populace and promoting the general welfare. The code states that the gods spoke to the king extolling, “…Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshipper of the gods, to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak, to go forth like the Sun over the Black Head Race, to enlighten the land and further the welfare of the people.” Hammurabi uses the remainder of the preamble to catalog his great achievements as king thereby establishing his worthiness to be the gods’ prophet.