Question

1.What type of legal system did Hammurabi set up?

Answer 1

1. ANSWER: The Code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi set up the "Code of Hammurabi" with 282 laws and where the famous phrase "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" came from. Although this code is actually more complex and less sinister-sounding than the phrase (which is not a direct quote, by the way), this legal system is meant to protect everyone abused, offering just compensation to everyone harmed.

In this system though, the accuser has to be the one to bring the accused to trial.

2. ANSWER: He wants to protect the abused.

Since Hammurabi was ruling a very diverse set of people, he set out to find a set of universal laws to govern everyone. He tapped legal experts to collect previously existing laws and examine them until he formed the Code with 282 laws.

Quoting Hammurabi directly, he said that he set out these laws "to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked person and the evil-doer, that the strong might not injure the weak."

3. ANSWER: The laws influenced future cultures.

The Code of Hammurabi is often attributed as the first set of written laws to be uncovered. Although this may not be the case as there are older laws that were uncovered, being recognized as the first set of written laws often led leaders of future cultures to adopt the system, making these leaders lead the way Hammurabi led.

Answer 2

1. He set up the Code of Hammurabi. 
2. He wanted to set up laws to protect the weak, using the "eye for an eye" system.
3. It was the first system of written laws that were enforced.