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The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of the Twelve Tables: An Evaluation of the Law of
Two Ancient Societies and Their Influence on Western Law
Thomas McDowell
HIEU 201
Professor Philip Brown
November 28, 2022
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Civilizations began to arise around 5000 years ago in the regions of Mesopotamia as well
as Egypt.1 In these civilizations, religion was the central force. According to Western
Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, religion united people in many ways, such as in the
construction of public works, as well as promoting creativity in the sciences, literature, and art.2
One of the most important ways that religion has influenced nearly all civilization is through law.
In ancient primary civilizations, laws were considered to be commandments from the gods and
therefore sacred.3 One Mesopotamian city, Babylon, is responsible for the oldest known legal
code. Known as the Code of Hammurabi, this code of law was created around 1780 BC. Written
centuries later in 450 BC was the ancient Roman Law of the Twelve Tables. This essay shall
conduct an evaluation and comparison of excerpts from both of these codes, as well as Scripture.
Sharing some similarities to principles of justice and law in Scripture while also falling short of
the Biblical standard in different ways, both the Code of Hammurabi and the Law of the Twelve
Tables have significantly influenced the development of laws in Western Civilization.
The Code of Hammurabi and The of the Twelve tables share similarities. For example,
both codes of law have sections detailing things such as rules for trial and for dealing with debt.
The legal system that was established through the Code of dealt with many of the specific things
that would occur in different legal disputes of the time on a case-by-case basis. Many infractions
that would be seen as minor in modern times carried the death penalty. An example of this would
1 Perry, Marvin, Myrna Chase, James R. Jacob, Margaret C. Jacob, Jonathan W. Daly, and
Theodore H Von Laue. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society. (Wadsworth Cengage
Learning, 2016), 1-2.
2 Perry, et al., 1-2.
3 Perry, et al., 1-2.
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be the first three laws dealing with legal disputes between parties. If someone accused another of
a crime and brought them before the elders only to not be able to prove their accusation, they
would be put to death rather than the accused.4 The first two tables of The Law of the Twelve
Tables provide a set of rules detailing court proceedings, dealing with things such as failure to
appear in court, as well as rules regarding which party needs to present evidence for their case.5
This shares much similarity to the first three laws in the Code of Hammurabi, minus the death
penalty for not complying properly. One parallel that can be drawn between the Code of
Hammurabi and Old Testament Scripture is that there is a focus on equal restitution for loss of
property, injury, or even life. Leviticus 17-22 states:
“‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. Anyone who takes the
life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. Anyone who injures their
neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. Whoever kills an
animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. You
are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your
God’” (ESV).
One of the main differences between Scripture and the two ancient codes of law that are being
evaluated in this writing is the fact that law in Scripture is rooted solely in the worship of one
righteous, monotheistic God while the others are not. In Scripture, law as well as morality are
closely intertwined. With the law comes the concept of sin and the need to answer to God. The
Code of Hammurabi and The Law of the Twelve Tables fall short in this regard.
4 The Avalon Project: Code of Hammurabi. Accessed November 28, 2022.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp.
5 The Law of the Twelve Tables. Accessed November 28, 2022.
http://thelatinlibrary.com/law/12tables.html.
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The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of the Twelve Tables have had a great influence on
modern Western law. The Code of Hammurabi attempted to provide a consistent system by
which people could seek out justice for wrongdoing and settle disputes. The Law of The Twelve
Table offered a similar system. These two codes of law also conveyed the idea that justice was
something that anyone could obtain and not be trampled under the will of the more powerful in
society. The concepts of justice that were established in these two legal codes has carried on
through centuries to remain important in the Western legal systems of today.
Bibliography
Perry, Marvin, Myrna Chase, James R. Jacob, Margaret C. Jacob, Jonathan W. Daly, and
Theodore H Von Laue. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society. (Wadsworth
Cengage Learning, 2016
