Economic Life and the Code of Hammurabi
The code also dealt extensively with the economic life of ancient Babylonians. The code governed the duties and rights of tenant farmers. Tenant farmers were required to carefully cultivate their plots and also to keep any canals or ditches clean and in good repair. Tenants who were negligent of their duties were responsible for paying for the cost of damaged crops and could be sold into slavery if the debt was high enough. Other workers could also be punished for poor workmanship. For example, if a house built by a builder collapsed and killed the son of the owner, the son of the house builder would also be killed in retaliation.