How did laws effect babylonia's culture

The Code of Hammurabi was a list of 282 laws and their punishments that were used to rule the Babylonian Empire. The rules and laws were etched on a 7.5 foot pillar for all to see. The law covered everything from property rights and criminal behavior to divorce and slavery with the brutal punishments listed for offenders. The law allowed for retribution, trial by ordeal and several other punishments. The brutality of the punishment often depended on who was being accused and who was the accuser. There were different sets of punishment for men and women and maid servants. The law was ahead of it's time in regards to minimum wage. It had one of the first laws about the presumption of innocence. The laws were so well placed and penalties beside them that the people already knew before committing the crime what the consequences would be. This was a great deterrent to committing a crime.

Many of the types of laws are used today in some way. Canada took the idea of placing laws in categories like Babylon. Many of the moral laws set forth in Hammurabi's Code are still in place today. Child support after divorce is an example of this. The idea of trial by jury came for death penalty cases which we have today.