MORALITY OF THE ANCIENT BABYLONIANS.
For some years past, the French explorer De Morgan has been making
extensive excavations at Susa, the capital of ancient Persia, and before
the rise of Persia, the capital of Elam as early as 3000 B.C. In the
winter of 1901-1902, having removed layers of earth containing ruins of
Persian palaces, he reached deposits contemporary with some of the old
Elamite kings. Here was discovered a stone monument inscribed with the
code of Hammurabi. As we have seen, this king ruled Babylonia about 2000
B.C. He it was who united all the little city-states into one kingdom
with its capital at Babylon. Proving himself a statesman as well as a
warrior, he devoted himself to the welfare of his subjects. He repaired
old canals and constructed new ones, restored the temples and above all,
gave the country a uniform system of laws. These laws were not made by
Hammurabi--generally speaking at least. They had been long established
by custom and he merely codified such customs and earlier decisions into
a system so that justice might be administered alike throughout the
realm. The laws were then inscribed upon stone slabs and erected at
certain places where the people could read them, and those who felt
themselves injured might know what redress lay open to them.
The particular stele unearthed by De Morgan had been set up originally
in the town of Sippara. Later Elamite kings became powerful enough to
invade Babylonia and lay the country under tribute. During this period,
one Elamite king had removed the stone monument from Sippara and taken
it home with his spoils. It had graced his triumphal procession upon his
return and was set up at his capital. 49 columns of inscription were
engraved upon it, but the Elamite king caused 5 to be removed and the
stone to be re-polished, in order that his name might be therein
inserted. For some reason this was forgotten or omitted.
Of the 282 laws once carved upon the stele, all are still legible. Their
discovery is most important for the history of ancient Babylonia, as it
has enabled scholars to reconstruct the standards of morality and
justice current when the country came into its first strength and power.
We may be sure that these laws were in vogue much earlier than the time
of Hammurabi and they lived on with little change for many years after.
They without doubt furnished the basis for the legal code throughout the
history of Babylonia, and without some knowledge of them we would never
have been able to understand the civilization of the country as it is
known today. It is comparable to the "Mosaic Code," which is made up of
different strata from different periods, cir. 1000 B.C. to 500 B.C. The
similarity between the two codes harks back to an early period when the
two peoples had not yet left their Arabian home, and indicates general
Semitic customs. Hammurabi's code "is concerned little, if at all, with
religious matters; the chief content is almost entirely civil and
criminal, dealing with such subjects as marriage, the family, property
rights, agricultural and commercial activities."
It is on the basis of these laws now translated that the morality of the
ancient Babylonians has been worked out. We find that the people were on
the borderland of retaliation, and punishments often took the form of
fines. There was still the old tribal "group responsibility"--that is,
the children often had to suffer for the sins of the father. Distinction
was now made between intentional and unintentional injury. Trial by
ordeal was sometimes allowed, especially when magic was thought to have
been used. Death was a frequent punishment. Banishment might be
inflicted. On the whole, the practices in Babylonia, before and after
2000 B.C., were not so severe as those common in England a century ago,
when petty larceny was met by extreme punishment.
The Babylonians carried the idea of contract and written agreement
farther than any other ancient people. Understandings which are today
made verbally between men were inscribed on clay tablets, duly impressed
by the seals of the parties concerned, and carefully preserved. We find
the law required receipts and written contracts as early as 2000 B.C.
For example, "If a merchant has given to an agent corn, wool, oil, or
any sort of goods to traffic with, the agent shall write down the money
value, and shall return that to the merchant. The agent shall then take
a sealed receipt for the money that he has given to the merchant. If
the agent forgets and has not taken a sealed receipt for the money he
gave to the merchant, money that has not been acknowledged by receipt
shall not be put down in the accounts."[1] Regarding money given
bankers: "If a man has given another gold, silver, or any goods whatever
on deposit, all that he gives shall be shown to witnesses, and take a
bond and so give on deposit. If he has given on deposit without
witnesses and bonds, and has been defrauded where he made his deposit,
he has no claim to prosecute."[2]
"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" was demanded by the Code of
Hammurabi.
"If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be
knocked out.
"If he has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken.
"If he has knocked out the eye of a plebeian or has broken the limb of a
plebeian, he shall pay one mana of silver.
"If a patrician has knocked out the tooth of a man that is his equal,
his tooth shall be knocked out. If he has knocked out the tooth of a
plebeian, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.
"If a man has struck another in a quarrel, and caused him permanent
injury, that man shall swear, 'I struck him without malice,' and shall
pay the doctor."[3]
Theft at a fire was made a capital offense. "If a fire has broken out in
a man's house and one who has come to put it out has coveted the
property of the householder and appropriated any of it, that man shall
be cast into the self-same fire."[4]
Fees of the surgeon were graded by law, and severe penalties were
inflicted for unskillful operations. Probably these were not strictly
enforced but were intended to prevent malpractice.
Marriage laws and regulations governing inheritance were necessarily
definite in a country where a man might have more than one wife. Since
perpetuation of a family through adoption was frequent, laws protected
both foster children and foster parents.
"If a man has brought up a child, whom he has taken to be his son, but
has not reckoned him with his sons, that foster child shall return to
his father's house.
"If a craftsman has taken a child to bring up and has taught him his
handiwork, he shall not be reclaimed. If he has not taught him his
handicraft, that foster child shall return to his father's house."
Injury which today would necessitate the payment of damages, in ancient
Babylonia might even be punished with death. "If a builder has built a
house for a man, and has not made his work sound, and the house he built
has fallen, and caused the death of its owner, that builder shall be put
to death. If it is the owner's son that is killed, the builder's son
shall be put to death.
"If he has caused the loss of goods, he shall render back whatever he
has destroyed. Moreover, because he did not make sound the house he
built, and it fell, at his own cost he shall rebuild the house that
fell."
Workmen were required to do faithful work or make good consequent
losses. "If a boatman has built a boat for a man, and has not made his
work sound, and in that same year that boat is sent on a voyage and
suffers damage, the boatman shall rebuild that boat, and, at his own
expense, shall make it strong, or shall give a strong boat to the
owner."
In a land where the cultivation of the soil was the great industry,
naturally many regulations refer to the lease of ground and the rent to
be paid by the farmer to the owner of the estate. Because the very
production of the soil depended upon the maintenance of canals, neglect
in the care of the dikes was severely punished.
"If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no corn to grow
on the field, he shall be held responsible for not doing the work on the
field and shall pay an average rent.
"If a man has given his garden to a gardener to farm, the gardener, as
long as he holds the garden, shall give the owner of the garden
two-thirds of the produce of the garden and shall take one-third
himself.
"If a man has neglected to strengthen his dike and has not kept his
dike strong, and a breach has broken out in his dike, and the waters
have flooded the meadow, the man in whose dike the breach has broken out
shall restore the corn he has caused to be lost. If he be not able to
restore the corn, he and his goods shall be sold, and the owners of the
meadow whose corn the water has carried away shall share the money.
"If a man has opened his runnel for watering and has left it open, and
the water has flooded his neighbor's field, he shall pay him an average
crop."
That justice might be administered uniformly throughout the realm,
courts were established in different cities, and Hammarabi insured the
well-being of his subjects by further creating a court of appeals, held
in Babylon. To this superior court anyone, thinking himself unfairly
treated in the lower courts, might have a hearing. Perjury was severely
punished. "If a man has borne false witness in a trial, or has not
established the statement that he has made, if that case be a capital
trial, that man shall be put to death.
"If he has borne false witness in a civil law case, he shall pay the
damages in that suit." Judges were always restricted by law and were
held to strict account in administering justice. Any suspicion of
bribery expelled the judge from his seat.
"If a judge has given a verdict, rendered a decision, granted a written
judgment, and afterwards has altered his judgment, that judge shall be
prosecuted for altering the judgment he gave and shall pay twelvefold
the penalty laid down in that judgment. Further, he shall be publicly
expelled from his judgment-seat and shall not return nor take his seat
with the judges at a trial."
Other public servants were required to deal justly with the people.
Governors of provinces who oppressed the inhabitants or in any way were
unjust to those dependent upon them, laid themselves liable to a death
sentence if charges against them could be proven.
In the light of these laws we would conclude that the Babylonians had
reached a high stage of morality when authentic history of their kingdom
begins. Honesty, truth, fair-dealing,--these were demanded by the laws
of the realm, and penalties attached to crimes violating them. One who
was injured must bring his cause before a judge and allow disinterested
persons to render a decision. Instead of retaliation upon the assailant,
money was sometimes received as compensation for injury. In more
flagrant cases, the law imposed the penalty of death. A man could not
slander his neighbor without risk of punishment.
"If the claimant of lost property has not brought the witnesses that
know his lost property, he has been guilty of slander, he has stirred up
strife, he shall be put to death.
* * * * *
"If a man has not his witnesses at hand, the judge shall set him a fixed
time not exceeding six months, and if within six months he has not
produced his witnesses, the man has lied; he shall bear the penalty of
the suit."
Protection was assured the weak and helpless by this code. It was
customary to receive hostages as security for debt--the debtor's son and
slave. Such a hostage was entitled to fair treatment and a law made it
an offense to misuse him. "If a hostage has died of blows or want in the
house of the creditor, the owner of the hostage shall prosecute his
creditor, and if the deceased were free-born, the creditor's son shall
be put to death; if a slave, the creditor shall pay one-third of a mana
of silver, furthermore, he shall lose whatever it was that he lent."
Regarding intemperance among the Babylonians, they used beer freely, but
appear to have gone to no such excesses as were common among the
Egyptians. The price of beer was fixed by law and an overcharge was
punishable by drowning.
The morality of the people seems to have been very slightly influenced
by their religion. While all Semitics have been strongly religious
people, the Babylonians had reached a certain degree of secularism in
their religion. Their temples were financial centers for the country and
were of more direct interest to the people because from them they might
negotiate small loans to tide them over emergencies perhaps than because
the deity of the locality had there his center of worship.
A lengthy prologue setting forth the titles of Hammurabi and the gods
that gave him power, preceded his code of laws. These were followed by
an epilogue similar in nature. The king calls down curses upon any
future ruler who should cause his wholesome regulations to be altered.
"In the future, in days to come, at any time, let the king who is in the
land, guard the words of righteousness which I have written on my stele.
Let him not alter the judgment of the land which I judged nor the
decisions I decided. Let him not destroy my bas-relief. If that man has
wisdom and is capable of directing his land, let him attend to the words
which I have written upon my stele, let him apprehend the path, the
rule, the law of the land which I judged, and the decision I decided for
the land, and so let him guide forward the black-headed race; let him
judge their judgment and decide their decision, let him cut off from his
land the proud and violent, let him rejoice in the flesh of his
people."[5]
Blessings were given him who should respect this code of laws and
terrible curses heaped upon any who might disregard it. Much of
Babylonia's prosperity appears to have resulted from the enforcement of
these impartial judgments.
[Illustration: BABYLONIAN BRICK. THE KING'S NAME AND TITLES WERE
INSCRIBED ON EACH BRICK.]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Johns: Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Letters and Contracts;
Hammarabi's Code, 104, 105.
[2] Ibid., 122, 123.
[3] Ibid., 196, 197, 198, 201, 206.
[4] Ibid., 25.
[5] Johns: Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Letters and Contracts;
Hammarabi's Code, 104, 105.