Hammurabi's Code and the idea of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"?

Question

What do historians mean when they say that Hammurabi's Code is based on the idea of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"? I know that idea means you take from other's an eye, they will take your eye, but what does it have to do with the Hammurabi's Code?

And from the Hammurabi's Code: "If a man put away his wife who has not borne him children, he shall give her money to the amount of her marriage settlement and he shall make good to her the dowry which she brought from her father's house."

Can you tell me what is the similar thing about this Code and the law today?

Answer 1

Hammurabi's code was the foundation for modern law. The idea of an eye for an eye stresses the idea of being punished for doing harm unto someone else. Just because we do not kill everyone who murders today doesn't mean our laws don't relate to the code. It's the simple principle of being harshly punished for a harsh crime.

The code considering the dowry relates to the financial aspect of divorce.

Answer 2

awesome answer FISHFACE

Answer 3

Actually, the "eye for an eye" is supposed to be a maximum. That is, take NO MORE  THAN an eye for an eye.

If someone destroys your eye, don't kill them.

In other words, the punishment should be proportionate to the crime.

Uh, Hammurabi's Code is no longer in force anywhere in the world. What makes it a big deal is that it's the first known systematic code of law and punishment.

Rather than treating everything on a case-by-case basis (thus often treating like cases differently), or arbitrary rules and responces, a codified set of laws and ways to deal with them.

The wife thing is that it's not her fault, so you don't get to keep the money you got when you married her; after all, she needs to survive.