Çivi Yazılı Kanun Metinlerinde Fiziksel Cezalandırma Yöntemleri

Year 2025, Volume: 35 Issue: 3, 893 - 906, 23.09.2025

Mehtap Dinçer

https://doi.org/10.18069/firatsbed.1568405

Abstract

İki ya da daha fazla insan grubu arasındaki ilişkileri düzenlemek amacıyla belirlenen ilk davranış kurallarının ne zaman, hangi ihtiyaçlardan doğarak ve hangi koşullarda ortaya çıktığı kesin olarak bilinmemektedir. Ancak tarih öncesi dönemlerde örgütlü toplumların oluşmasıyla birlikte, bir arada yaşama ve kaynakları paylaşma zorunluluğunun çeşitli toplumsal normların gelişimine zemin hazırladığı düşünülmektedir. Bu normlar, çoğu zaman günümüz değerleriyle “ilkel” sayılabilecek fiziksel şiddet unsurlarını içermektedir. Devletin siyasal bir yapı olarak doğuşu, şiddetin toplumsal yaşam içindeki rolünü değiştirmiştir. Devlet, şiddet uygulamalarını bireysel ve kolektif düzeydeki tepkiler olmaktan çıkararak hukuki bir çerçeveye oturtmuş; fiziksel cezayı yalnızca suçun karşılığı olarak değil, aynı zamanda kendi otoritesini görünür kılmak ve güçlendirmek amacıyla araçsallaştırmıştır. Hammurabi Kanunları, Asur Kanunları ve Hitit Kanunları gibi erken dönem metinlerde, cana kıyma/idam, uzuv sakatlama, su ordalisi ve kırbaçlama gibi fiziksel cezalar sistematik bir biçimde düzenlenmiştir. Bu çalışmada, ilk kanun metinlerinde düzenlenen fiziksel cezalar ve bunların uygulanış biçimleri incelenmiş; şiddetin devletin yaptırım kapasitesini görünür kılmak ve otoritesini pekiştirmek amacıyla nasıl kullanıldığı mevcut metinler ışığında değerlendirilmiştir.

Keywords

Şiddet , Kanun , Ceza , Devlet

Physical Punishment Methods in Cuneiform Law Codes

Abstract

The exact time, needs, and conditions under which the earliest behavioral rules regulating relationships between two or more human groups emerged remain unknown. However, it is considered that the formation of organized societies during prehistoric times inevitably paved the way for the development of various social norms necessary for cohabitation and resource sharing. These norms often included elements of physical violence, which, from today's perspective, could be described as "primitive." The emergence of the state as a political structure altered the role of violence within social life. The state redefined acts of violence, removing them from the sphere of individual and collective reactions and placing them within a legal framework; thus, physical punishment was instrumentalized not only as a response to crime but also as a means of making the state's authority visible and reinforcing it. In early legal codes such as the Code of Hammurabi, the Assyrian Laws, and the Hittite Laws, physical punishments including execution, mutilation, trial by water, and flogging were systematically organized. This study examines the physical punishments codified in the earliest legal texts and their modes of application, and analyzes how violence was utilized to render the state’s enforcement capacity visible and to consolidate its authority in the light of existing legal documents.

Keywords

Physical Violence , Law , Punishment , State

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• İnternet Kaynakları
• Larsen, C. S., Knüsel, C. J., Haddow, S. D., Pilloud, M. A., Milella, M., Sadvari, J. W., Pearson, J., Ruff, C. B., Garofalo, E. M., Bocaege, E., Betz, B. J., Dori, I. & Glencross, B. (2019). Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(17), 8239–8248. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818036116
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