Hammurabi and His Code Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Actually the laws of Ur-Nammu, from the Third Dynasty of Ur, predate the Hammurabi Code by three hundred years. It is known that older law codes existed, but it is the earliest one still in existence. It is written in the basic format of "if" (crime) "then" (punishment).

Many of the punishments are either fines in the form of restitution or death. The image is from the Stele of Ur-Nammu. The crescent represents the moon god (Sin or Nanna), and the six-rayed star represents the goddess (Inanna), the planet Venus.

Answer: Babylonia

The era of the Amorite kingdoms was 2000-1595 B.C. in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi united all of the city-states of Mesopotamia under his rule, and during his reign, the city of Babylon became the political and cultural center. In time, all of the Amorite empire became known as Babylonia.

Answer: Justice

The top portion of the Hammurabi stele shows the king receiving the laws from Marduk. Marduk was eventually recognized as having the traits of the gods Ea, his father, and Enlil. The story, "Enûma Elish", tells how Marduk seized power and became the principal deity of Babylon. Ancient Mesopotamians definitely led a life that was "gods centered"; they believed that everything that happened, happened because the gods made it happen. Even an autocrat like Hammurabi would give the credit of creating his law code to Marduk, rather than claiming the fame for himself.

Answer: 282

The stele is made of black diorite in the shape of an index finger, and is 7.4 feet tall. It was written in Akkadian cuneiform with forty-four columns and twenty-eight paragraphs. The text for Laws 66-99 is missing.

Answer: He had to pay half his value.

Close study of the Hammurabi Code reveals a distinct social organization. Nobles, who were the priests of the temple and palace officials, comprised the upper class. The commoners, who were farmers, artisans, and merchants, were the middle class, and the slaves were either prisoners of war or people who had been purchased. The law definitely did not treat everyone equally. The nobles and commoners were held accountable for crimes and injuries they did to each other. However, crimes and injuries against slaves were treated as much less serious. To add insult to injury, the fine that was paid went to the slave's owner, not the slave!

Many of the laws in the Hammurabi Code were steeped in social class distinctions.

Answer: The person was put to death.

Many of the crimes listed in the code were punishable by death. These included bringing a charge against someone and not being able to prove it true, helping a slave escape, being caught committing a robbery, and a tavern owner not turning in conspirators who met in his place of business.

The punishments may seem harsh today, but they were probably intended to limit private vengeance. Court records do not exist in abundance, and the ones that have been found do not indicate the nature of all of the death penalties. One of the laws says the punishment for incest with the mother is burning; another does say that if the wife of one man and another man has their mates murdered, they will be impaled.

Answer: His hands would be cut off.

Mutilation was a common form of punishment. A physician whose patient died during an operation also had his hands cut off. Slaves who struck the body of a freeman would have their ears cut off, and, of course, there are the "eye for eye", "tooth for tooth", and "limb for limb" laws.

Answer: Euphrates

Apparently there was no concept of learning how to swim in ancient Mesopotamia. A person sometimes had the option to cast themselves into the river. If they drowned, they were guilty; if they made it to the shore, they were presumed innocent and 'exonerated by the will of the gods'.

Trial by ordeal was also used in medieval Europe, but was condemned by the Lateran Council of 1215, which also condemned trial by combat.

Answer: The Hammurabi Code covered all of these topics.

The Hammurabi Code was the most comprehensive single code of laws for over 2,000 years; it was surpassed by Justinian about 550 AD when he ordered the compilation of the "Corpus Juris Civilis". The Code is seen as a primitive constitution, and is one of the oldest examples of the presumption of innocence, as it suggests that both the accuser and accused have the opportunity to provide evidence.

Answer: Louvre

The Hammurabi Stele was found in 1901, by Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier. A member of an expedition headed by Jacques de Morgan, he found the Stele containing the Code of Hammurabi in what is now Khûzestân, Iran (ancient Susa, Elam). Historians belive that it had been taken as plunder by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte in the 12th century BC.

At the time of discovery, the Stele was broken into three pieces. It has been restored and is considered to be one of the Louve's greatest treasures.