THE CODE OF HAMMURABI | Why do we have Laws and Rules?

Red means stop. Green means go. Shh, no chewing gum in class. Laws and rules are all around us and they're a big part of our modern world. Have you ever wondered why we have them? Or imagined what life would be like without any rules? It might sound fun, but you might be surprised how crazy life could get without law and order. Today we're going to explore what laws and rules are, learn why we have them, and maybe gain a new appreciation for our modern laws after learning about one of the oldest and strictest written laws in history, the Code of Hammurabi. So what's the difference between a law and a rule? Think of it this way. Laws are used to govern and control a large group of people in a society, like a state or a nation. They're usually agreed upon or ratified by a legislature or other leaders and written down. Most laws have a consequence attached to them and violated in a way to enforce obedience. For example, in most countries, it is illegal to steal from someone else. And if you break that law, law enforcement officers, the police, can arrest you and put you in jail and maybe force you to give back what you stole. Rules, on the other hand, are usually used on smaller scales for institutions, clubs, games, or even families. Rules are usually agreed upon by the participants to help things run smoothly, and the punishments for violating rules are usually less severe than for laws. For example, when you play a sport, you have to follow the rules of the game or the referee can call a foul on you, or perhaps your teacher has classroom rules to help maintain order and help everyone learn better. Such is a rule that you have to raise your hand and be called on before you can speak out loud. Laws and rules aren't something new. Societies have had them for thousands of years, back to the beginning of recorded history. One of the oldest lists of laws we have comes from ancient Mesopotamia. Around 1800 BCE, the ruler of the city-state of Babylon was a guy named Hammurabi, epic name. Hammurabi loved to improve his society in many ways. He helped his city build better walls for defense and more temples for worship. When invaders came into Mesopotamia and threatened nearby city-states, Hammurabi allied with other city-state rulers to stop the invasion and defend the land. As his military became stronger, he increased his influence, and eventually he ruled over most of Mesopotamia. The many city-states of Mesopotamia had governors who made different laws of their own before Hammurabi, but he wanted a standard set of laws for his entire empire. To help people learn the law, he had a large stone called a stelae placed in the center of the city. On the stone were 282 laws written in the language of the people so that all who were literate could read them. At the top of the stone, above the laws, was a carved image of Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shemash, the Babylonian god of justice. And there was a description of how Shemash chose Hammurabi to give the laws to the people. The laws cover all sorts of topics, from murder and theft, to laws about loans, trade and business fraud, and even family laws like adoption rules. The laws would usually state the type of offense and include the consequence or punishment for breaking that law. For example, law 21. If a man breaks into a house, they shall kill him, then hang him in front of that very breach. Wait, what? Yeah, if you trespassed in Hammurabi's empire, they would kill you and hang you for it. Pretty harsh, right? But the law had some very unique traits for the time, such as protections for the accused and the presumption of innocence. This means that if someone accused you of a crime, they had to prove it, and everyone should assume that you are innocent until proven guilty. This is a major part of many modern legal systems around the world. For example, in law number one, it says, if a man accuses another man and charges him with homicide, but cannot bring proof against him, his accuser shall be killed. Yeah, so someone better be absolutely sure before they make an accusation, or else they could end up facing the death sentence. Yikes. But at least people were gossiping much less at it. While the punishments seem archaic and scary, the standardization of laws and rules brought much order to Hammurabi's empire, and it helped to protect innocent people that previously had no protection from the law. Now it's fast forward to our modern day and ask the question again. Why do we have laws and rules? To help us out, let's imagine a busy city street in a lawless world. No stoplights or signs, no speed limits, so people can drive as fast as they want. No one takes turns going through the intersection. And in fact, they can drive on either side of the road. It really doesn't matter. There's no laws. Can you see any problems here? There would be accidents and traffic, and no one would get where they wanted to go on time. It's a big mess. In a word, it's anarchy. And that's actually the word to describe a society with no laws and rules, an anarchy. You don't see many places around the world that use anarchy as their system of government because it simply doesn't work. Societies need laws and rules to maintain order. A classroom needs rules to help students learn. A home needs rules to ensure everyone gets respect and stays safe. Sports need rules to help keep them fun and fair. And societies need rules and laws to protect people and help them thrive. Laws not only help us on the road, they also help to protect our civil rights, to protect our person and property, and they help us to work, learn, and earn a living in an environment that's organized and regulated to protect everyone involved. Obeying the law is part of good citizenship, and it helps keep your neighborhood and nation safe and prosperous. Now, not all rules and laws are perfect, mostly because the people that write them are human, and we as humans, we're just not perfect. So it's important to be educated and involved about the law. If you feel like a law or a rule is unjust or needs modification to be better for society, learn how laws are made and changed where you live and do your part to improve things in a peaceful way. The Code of Hammurabi is no longer in effect, but the principles of law and order that it demonstrates impact many legal documents and constitutions around the world today. Now let's have some fun with a quick activity. I'll review a situation, then you pause the video and decide what the consequence or legal outcome should be. When you're done, unpause the video and hear how the Code of Hammurabi applied the law to the same situation. Then you decide if it's too lenient or too harsh. Situation one, what should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls apart and kills the owner inside? Hammurabi's Code number 229 says, if a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction sound and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death. Situation two, what should be done to a boy that slaps his father? Code number 195 says, if a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand. Situation three, what should be done about a wife that ignores her duties and belittles her husband? Code number 143 says, if a woman has not been careful but has gathered about, neglecting her house and belittling her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water. Try some for yourself. The entire Code of Hammurabi can be found in a link in the description below. We hope you enjoyed learning about the Code of Hammurabi and the purpose of laws and rules. 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