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Laws of Manu vs. Code of Hammurabi

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Laws of Manu vs. Code of Hammurabi
Laws of Manu vs. Code of Hammurabi

The Laws of Manu and The Code of Hammurabi were both discovered documents of two different ancient civilizations. These documents basically told the people of the civilizations what is expected of them and what will happen if they don’t follow them. The Laws of Manu were the laws made for the people of India while the Code of Hammurabi were the laws made for the people of Babylon. Both the Laws of Manu and the Code of Hammurabi concentrated a majority on the aspects of marriage, family, and laws of the land. In my opinion, The Code of Hammurabi was harsher than The Laws of Manu. The Code of Hammurabi was for all the people no matter what class they were classified in, even though slaves and women were mostly treated like property in all places at this time. The Code of Hammurabi was also made more as what is morally right and to help maintain order in the civilizations; while the Laws of Manu were made more on the religious side and to promise the people eternal life if they followed these laws. The Code of Hammurabi gave more of an “if you don’t follow these rules you will just die” tone to it. The Code of Hammurabi was also straight forward and to the point, while the Laws of Manu gave more detail.

In the Laws of Manu they get in more depth of every aspect of people’s lives. In chapter two, number 57, it states, “excessive eating is prejudicial to health, to fame, and to bliss in heaven; it prevents the acquisition of spiritual merit, and is odious among men; one ought, for the reasons, to avoid carefully.” That’s telling people how much they should eat. The laws of Manu are basically telling people how to live their lives in every aspect and if you don’t you won’t have eternal life. The laws also have different rules based on what caste the people are categorized into; the higher the caste, the more privileges. In Chapter five, number 32 it states, “A Brahmana, having got rid of his body by one of those modes
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