The Code’s importance as a reflection ofBabylonian society is indisputable. Hammurabi’s laws wereestablished to be the “laws of Justice” intended to clarify therights of any “oppressed man.” Mesopotamia society under theHammurabi code was one of strict penalties for criminal offenseswith punishment severe and varied according to the wealth of theindividual. Hammurabi’s rigidly centralized ruling system prosperedfrom tribute and taxes, which he used to both compensate statedependents and finance extensive state irrigation and buildingprojects. The code also gives us a clear sense of the ways ancientBabylonians invested divine authority in their secular leaders.

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