An Eye For An Eye and A Tooth For A Tooth

This is an ancient statue of Hammurabi. Do you think he looks more like a strict, stern leader or more like a kind, forgiving leader?

Today we discussed Hammurabi's Code.  The students decided that there are several reasons it's important to put laws in writing:

• Written laws make society more fair.  They prevent leaders from changing the laws willy-nilly, without informing the people.
• Written laws make society more organized.  People can read the laws and understand the specifics of what they are allowed (and not allowed) to do.
• Written laws promote good behavior. If a person can read the laws and think about them, he or she is more likely to actually obey the laws.

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Cole: How many laws does the United States have?  How many laws does Virginia have?

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We also discussed the idea of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." 

This saying comes directly from two of the laws in Hammurabi's Code (the students correctly surmised that the punishment for knocking out a man's tooth was not to make a toothbrush for every other person in Babylon!).

I was especially impressed that several students are familiar with Gandhi's famous criticism of Hammurabi's Code: "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."