History Name:
Unit 3: Date:
Mesopotamia
The Code of Hammurabi
As you know, Hammurabi’s Code included more than 200 laws. Listed below are four of those laws that we will use in class today. Read all four laws so you are prepared for your job on the jury today in class. Underline the crime in each law. Box the punishment in each law.
Law 196: If a man puts out the eye of another man of the same social class, his eye shall be put out.
Law 197: If a man breaks another noble man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
Law 198: If a nobleman puts out the eye of a commoner or slave or breaks the bone of a commoner or slave, he shall pay one piece of silver.
Law 199: If a slave puts out the eye of a nobleman or injures him in another way, he shall immediately be put to death.
The Court of Hammurabi
Case 1 – Sabium v. Eshuh
Bailiff: All rise! Welcome to Hammurabi’s court. The honorable King Hammurabi, ruler, law-maker and judge of all Babylon now entering. You may be seated!
Hammurabi: My people! Today, we are gathered to hear several cases. I, King Hammurabi, will pass judgment on the cases presented before me, but I may ask my people for their assistance in this matter. Please listen to the facts carefully and prepare to help me pass judgment. Bailiff, what is the first case?
Bailiff: The first case is between Sabium the Slave and Eshuh the Slave.
Hammurabi: Sabium, could you please explain what happened?
Sabium: Eshuh and I were working in the fields, and I challenged him to a race – whoever could pick the most grain in an hour would win the other person’s dinner. When I won, he poked me in the eye!
Hammurabi: What happened to your eye?
Sabium: It was so damaged that I can never use it again! I’m going to be beaten because I can’t pick grain as fast! Eshuh put out my eye!
Hammurabi: Do you have any witnesses?
Sabium: Yes I do. My sister saw the whole thing.
Hammurabi: Eshuh, do you admit that you poked Sabium in the eye?
Eshuh: Yes, your honor. But she cheated! She deserved it!
Hammurabi: Do you have any proof that Sabium cheated?
Eshuh: No! But she’s so much worse at picking grain than me! How could she out-pick me?
Hammurabi: I’ve heard enough.
Would you say Eshuh is guilty? Write in complete sentences and explain your answer.
JURY QUESTION
Case 1: Sabium versus Eshuh
Verdict for Eshuh (Circle One) GUILTY NOT GUILTY
Which law applies here? Law #______
Why do you believe this law applies?
What should the punishment be?
Why should what you wrote above be the punishment? ______
Case 2 – Agum v. Ush
Bailiff: The Honorable King Hammurabi has given his verdict. Next, the court needs to hear the case of Agum the Nobleman versus Ush the Slave.
Hammurabi: Agum and Ush, could you please step forward? Agum, since you’re the nobleman, you can start first. Tell us what happened.
Agum: Well, Ush was my slave for years. He wasn’t a good slave. He was lazy and never did his work, so I used to punish him. Then, one day, I asked him to carry several bags of grain to my home. He threw them down too roughly on the floor and they spilled into a ditch. I began to punish him, but he turned around and fought me.
Hammurabi: Was anyone else present at the time?
Agum: Yes, all of my slaves, and my family were there. They all jumped to help me.
Hammurabi: And then what?
Agum: Before they could do anything, Ush took a rock and scraped it across my eye.
Hammurabi: So that’s why you wear an eyepatch? You’re blind? Ush, is this untrue?
Ush: It’s true that I fought him and that he lost his eye, but it was a fair fight. See, I had saved enough money to buy my freedom, but he wouldn’t give it to me. I called him a coward, and then he offered to fight me. Whoever won, he said, would control me.
Hammurabi: Ush, do you have any proof?
Ush: Yes. I have the written testimony of three people, right here.
Hammurabi: But Ush, you still agree that you fought Agum and he lost his eye in the fight?
Ush: Yes.
Hammurabi: I’ve heard enough.
Would you say Ush is guilty? Write in complete sentences and explain your answer.
JURY QUESTION
Case 2: Agum versus Ush
Verdict for Ush (Circle One) GUILTY NOT GUILTY
Which law applies here? Law #______
Why do you believe this law applies?
What should the punishment be?
Why should what you wrote above be the punishment? ______
Case 3 – Simbar v. Kassu
Bailiff: The Honorable King Hammurabi has given his verdict. Next, the court needs to hear the case of Kassu the Slave versus Simbar the Noblewoman. Kassu and Simbar, please step forward.
Hammurabi: Kassu, as the accuser, you may go first. Please tell us what happened.
Kassu: I’m a slave, sir, and I work for Simbar, who is a Noblewoman. One day she told me to go to the market to buy her figs to eat. I went, sir, but I got detained.
Hammurabi: Detained? What does that mean?
Kassu: Well, I had to walk around for hours to find the figs that were good enough for Simbar. Then, a child stole some so I had to track him down to get them back because I didn’t want to return to Simbar without all of the figs. It took me hours to get home, but I was just trying to do my job!
Simbar: That’s a lie, you lazy slave! You were sitting in the market talking with the other slaves!
Hammurabi: Simbar, let the slave finish his story!
Kassu: Well, when I got home, Simbar was so angry that she threw a pot at me. The sharp handle stuck me in the eye, and now I’m blind. Simbar beats me every day because I’m so slow and clumsy, but I can’t see anymore! This is her fault!
Simbar: That’s a lie, you clumsy slave! You poked yourself in the eye as you tripped coming up the stairs!
Hammurabi: Kassu, do you have any witnesses?
Kassu: Yes I do. My wife, who is also a slave, saw the whole thing happen.
Hammurabi: Is she here to testify?
Kassu: Yes. Her name is Shauna.
Hammurabi: Shauna, please come to the front. Can you tell us what you saw?
Shauna: Well, my husband came home with all the figs, and I helped him put them all on a beautiful plate to bring up to Simbar. When he walked towards her room, I heard her start screaming, so I decided I’d better go and help him. That’s when I saw her throw a pot at him, and the pot stick in his eye! There was blood everywhere, and all Simbar kept screaming was that he was messing up her floor!
Hammurabi: Simbar, do you deny this?
Simbar: Lies. All lies! They were terrible slaves, and I sold them. They’re just trying to get back at me.
Hammurabi: I’ve heard enough.
Would you say Simbar is guilty? Write in complete sentences and explain your answer.
JURY QUESTION
Case 3: Kassu versus Simbar
Verdict for Simbar (Circle One) GUILTY NOT GUILTY
Which law applies here? Law #______
Why do you believe this law applies?
What should the punishment be?
Why should what you wrote above be the punishment? ______