The Code of Hammurabi

Sunday September 20, 2026

LAWS of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established. A righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurabi, the protecting king am I.

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195) If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.

196) If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

197) If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.

198) If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.

199) If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

200) If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.

201) If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.

202) If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.

203) If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.

204) If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels in money.

205) If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.

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This is from the L. W. King translation of the Code of Hammurabi, which was written circa 1753 BCE. The whole code is far too long; these are just a few selections, with just eleven of 282 “laws.” I put a bit from the epilogue at the start, to give a flavor for the very long sections outside the laws themselves.

I'm a little unsure about including “laws” like these in the virtues project. It highlights how petty laws can be, how verbose, how primitive. Did they, in this ancient time, have ideas about virtues? They are called “laws of justice,” and the word “righteousness” appears...