MVP ARCHIVE HISTORY | Civilization ORDER 01 : Code of Ur-Nammu - One of the world's oldest surviving written laws
MVP ARCHIVE HISTORY > Civilization > Code of Ur-Nammu - One of the world's oldest surviving written laws
Code of Ur-Nammu - One of the world's oldest surviving written laws
The Code of Ur-Nammu is a legal code believed to have been enacted around the 21st century BC by King Ur-Nammu of the Sumerian city-state of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia.
It is known as one of the world's oldest written laws currently identified, and is approximately 300 years older than the Code of Hammurabi. While the code contained various regulations concerning people's daily lives, such as murder, assault, theft, marriage, slavery, and property, one of its characteristics is that it stipulates
monetary compensation for many violations.
Unlike the principle of retribution widely known in the later Code of Hammurabi, it shows a concept of attempting to resolve disputes through compensation based on the damage caused for certain crimes. The most significant importance shown by the
Code of Ur-Nammu is that it did not leave social order solely to individual judgment or custom, but rather the state codified it as a common law.
The idea of recording laws in writing and establishing standards for governance was passed down to subsequent ancient Mesopotamian legal systems, the Code of Hammurabi, and even later written laws. Although the surviving code is fragmentary, it is an extremely important historical document for understanding the early stages of humanity's pursuit of governance by law.
Archive Data
Enactment
・Around the 21st century BC
・Sumerian city-state of Ur
Purpose
・Maintenance of social order
・Codification of standards for dispute resolution
・Unification of state governance
Main Features
・One of the world's oldest written laws
・Regulations emphasizing monetary compensation
・Includes a wide range of laws related to daily life
Historical Significance
One of the oldest surviving legal codes
One of the starting points of written law
Influenced the development of ancient legal systems such as the later Code of Hammurabi
MVP ARCHIVE HISTORY > Civilization > Code of Ur-Nammu - One of the world's oldest surviving written laws
