Letter to the Editor

The Code of Hammaurabi

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Dear Editor,

Typographical mistakes happen in publication, even the Gazette. On Aug. 3-4, 2018, I wrote about water problems in relationship to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and Hammurabi. The Euphrates rises in the mountains of Armenia not America. It flows into the Persian Gulf.

King Hammurabi lived from about 1850 – 1750 BC. He developed the famous laws or codes of Hammurabi. In addition to that, he expanded his kingdom using diplomacy and military conquest.

He changed Babylonia’s legal system which was 300 years old.

Thanks to him, his country had a fair, flexible and efficient system of taxation.

Hammurabi’s code influenced the civilization of all Near Eastern countries. It contained nearly 300 legal provisions. His code covered such matters as witchcraft, false accusation, family laws, tariffs, wages, trade, loans and debts.

According to the code, the strong were not allowed to injure the weak.

Helen Ruth Arnold

Trenton, Neb.

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