Western Civilization I / Unit 1 WC1 0018 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Reading Hammurabi's Code as a Historian
The idea
A law code tells you what a society feared, valued and tolerated, whether or not the laws were enforced. To read the code, ask three questions of any provision: who is protected, who is punished, and what does the difference reveal. The primary text is on Fordham's Ancient History Sourcebook.
In practice
Take three provisions the course paraphrases. First, a free man who destroys another free man's eye loses his own eye, but if the victim is a commoner he pays silver. Who is protected: the free man's body. What it reveals: three classes with three prices. Second, a builder whose house collapses and kills the owner is put to death. Who is punished: the builder, for negligence, not intent. What it reveals: responsibility attached to a trade. Third, a wife accused without proof may clear herself by oath and return home. Who is protected: the accused woman. What it reveals: a secondary status with real procedural protections. Read all three together and the code's character emerges: hierarchy, fairness inside the hierarchy, and a state that puts itself between private parties.
Where people slip
Do not read a code as a description of daily life. It is a claim by a king about what order should be, carved for display. The exam may quote a provision and ask what it shows about Babylonian society. Answer with the class structure and the state's role.
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