Legal history

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/legal-history

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What were the first written laws and where did they come from?The first written laws were the Sumerian Code of Ur‑Nammu and the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, made in ancient Mesopotamia around 2100‑1750 BCE. They put rules on tablets so people could see and follow them.
2. Why did Hammurabi’s Code say “an eye for an eye”?Hammurabi’s Code used “an eye for an eye” to make punishments equal to the crime, giving people a clear idea of what would happen if they broke a rule.

Codification: The process of arranging and systematizing laws into a written code or statute.
Stare Decisis: A legal principle where courts are obligated to follow precedents set by previous decisions.
Corpus Juris Civilis: A monumental collection and codification of Roman law compiled under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.