Leveled Readings / Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi, laws 196 and 198 (c. 1754 BCE)
These are adaptations, not the original. The original wording is always shown first. Each adapted version restates the same passage at about a grade 4, grade 7, or grade 10 reading level without adding or removing ideas. Quote the original in student writing.
Original wording
“If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. … If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.”
Adapted · about grade 4
If a man hurts another man's eye, his own eye will be hurt. If he hurts the eye of a freed man, he pays one piece of gold.
Adapted · about grade 7
If a man destroys another man's eye, his own eye will be destroyed. If he destroys the eye or breaks the bone of a freed man, he must pay one gold mina.
Adapted · about grade 10
If a man puts out the eye of another man, his own eye shall be put out; but if he puts out the eye or breaks the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
Used in: What makes a law code fair?