The Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first legal codes ever written, and one of the oldest surviving legal codes ever to be found in their original context. Much like the laws established by the Athenians in the Forum or laws of the Hebrews as established by Moses, it was one of the first codified documents establishing how the law would apply to everyone, and is important not only because of its history and significance to history of law, but also because it is one of the oldest documented collections of legal tropes in recorded history.

It was established by Hammurabi of Babylon, allegedly on behalf of the Babylonian gods, specifically Marduk, so that the people might know justice and order.

Tropes used in Hammurabi's Code of Laws

• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Defied. In fact, the law specifically prevented anyone who tried to buy off the jury from getting away with it, by having them given the punishment the guilty party would have received given the trial had proceeded without interference.

• Disproportionate Retribution: Some of the punishments were much harsher than they would be in most modern countries. For instance, perjury was punishable by death, in any circumstance.
  • Also, the laws on thievery were pretty stiff. If you bought goods from someone or their slave, and it was later determined they were stolen, you could be killed along with the seller, even if you had no idea they were stolen, as you would have been assumed to be party to the theft. This could be avoided, however, if the transaction was publicly recorded by a third party, in which case your innocence would be presumed, unless the third party was in on it, in which case you were still executed, even if you were the only innocent party.

• Eye for An Eye: While it wasn't as proportional as the Law of Moses (nobles and commoners had different standards, though they were equal between those of the same social stature), a lot of laws existed for this in Hammurabi's law, written 700 years before Moses' time.

• Fair for Its Day: Hammurabi existed in the times of absolute despotism, where the law usually meant what whomever in charge wanted it to mean, so for him to establish a set of laws that would apply in all cases defined within the legal code was extremely progressive. The punishments in some cases were unduly harsh, and applied differently depending on someone's standing in society (nobles and commoners had different levels of legal responsibility for a crime or civil restitution), but it was one of the first law codes that applied as prescribed to everyone, even the king himself.

• The Kindnapper: This trope did not exist under this legal code. Kidnapping for any reason was considered a crime worthy of death.
  • This did have a partial loophole, however. If a law abiding citizen captured an escaped slave and detained them with the intent of returning the slave to their master, and the slave escaped their custody, they could be considered blameless should they explain themselves to the owner and their motive for the detainment be proven to aid the owner in recovering the slave.

• Lawful Good: Invoked in the text by Hammurabi himself:

"Then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak."

• Lost Forever: Due to the ravages of time, some of the laws are now undecipherable due to damage to the original cuneiform lettering.

• Screw the Rules, I Make Them: Averted. Even though Hammurabi created the legal code, he explicitly included laws even he had to abide by, else he could legally overthrown for defying the will of the gods who told him it was good to establish laws he had to honor.

• You Kill It, You Bought It: In a way. You kill someone's slave or cattle, you had to pay the price for the corpse as if you had bought either legally as restitution. Didn't matter what the circumstance, you paid the purchase price by law.
  • Also had a In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You variant. If someone was caught trying to burglarize a house, they were killed and buried under the doorstep, becoming the property of the home.