Laws and Rituals throughout History Began with the Code of...

Throughout history, many civilizations have endured through a system of social, political, religious, and economic laws and rituals. Most of these laws and rituals were set up as procedures for moral behavior, family life, education, government, and business. These basic values were set forth by an early civilization known as the Babylonians. Law codes were regarded as a subject for prayer. However, to truly gain an understanding of Mesopotamia in the 17th Century BC, we should take a closer look at the penalties rather than the laws themselves. There is a lot about Babylonian society that can be learned through reading the Code of Hammurabi. In the very least, the document itself and the materials used to produce it tell how advanced†¦show more content†¦For example, Hammurabis law number 53 says If anyone be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined . We can assume that there was a problem in Mesopotamian society with abandoned or poorly maintained irrigation ducts. Laws play a major role in the expansion of a nation. Justice is the upholding of those laws from an impartial standpoint. King Hammurabi managed to organize one of the first best preserved set of laws from ancient Babylonian times. The Code of Hammurabi was recorded on clay tablets standing eight feet high and written in cuneiform. The laws consisted of 282 provisions arranged under a variety of subjects ranging from family and personal property to trade and business. These laws established consequences with the philosophy that the punishment should fit the crime. In a society that was overwhelmingly illiterate, people would never know their rights if they depended upon a written text. There were several social classes, and each of those had different consequences and rights. Victims, however, were paid monetarily by the offender. Babylonians viewed punishment as â€Å"an eye for an eye†. Hammurabi created these laws for a standardized code that helped control his empire. TheseShow MoreRelatedAncient Greece s Influence On Western Civilization2158 Words   |  9 Pagesvalued beauty and imagination. The civilization of ancient Greece blossomed for more than 2,500 years ago but the ideas of the ancient Greeks continue to influence the way we live today. 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