Editing Eye for an eye (section)

==In Babylonian law==
In the legal [[Code of Hammurabi]], the principle of exact reciprocity is very clearly used. For example, if a person caused the death of another person, the killer would [[Capital punishment|be put to death]].{{Sfn | Hammurabi | 1780 BC | loc = §230}}

Various ideas regarding the origins of this law exist, but a common one is that it developed as early civilizations grew and a less well-established system for retribution of wrongs, [[feud]]s and [[Feud|vendettas]], threatened the social fabric. Despite having been replaced with newer modes of legal theory, ''lex talionis'' systems served a critical purpose in the development of social systems—the establishment of a body whose purpose was to enact the retaliation and ensure that this was the only punishment. This body was the state in one of its earliest forms. The principle can be found in earlier Mesopotamian law codes such as the [[Code of Ur-Nammu|Codes of Ur-Nammu]] of Ur and [[Lipit-Ištar]] of Isín.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lex Talionis: An Ancient Principle Limiting Capital Punishment in Abrahamic Faiths |url=https://www.iranrights.org/library/document/3147 |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Abdorrahman Boroumand Center |language=en}}</ref>

The principle is found in [[Babylonian Law]].{{Sfn | Hammurabi | 1780 BC}}<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Babylonian Law |volume= 3 |last= Johns |first= Claude Hermann Walter |author-link= Claude Hermann Walter Johns | pages = 115–121; see page 120, second para. first sentence |quote=In the criminal law the ruling principle was the ''lex talionis''. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, limb for limb was the penalty for assault upon an amelu. }}</ref> If it is surmised that in societies not bound by the rule of law, if a person was hurt, then the injured person (or their relative) would take [[revenge|vengeful]] retribution on the person who caused the injury. The retribution might be worse than the crime, perhaps even death. Babylonian law put a limit on such actions, restricting the retribution to be no worse than the crime, as long as victim and offender occupied the same status in society. As with [[blasphemy]] or [[lèse-majesté]] (crimes against a god or a monarch), crimes against one's social betters were punished more severely.