Prisons and Imprisonment in the Ancient World: Punishments Used to Maintain Public Order

One of the most well-known forms of punishment today is imprisonment. One could argue that for any society to function properly, public order has to be maintained. This is an important function of the state and one of the ways this goal is achieved is through laws. Inevitably, laws have also been broken since they emerged, and punishments have been provided either as a form of retribution or as a deterrent to would-be law-breakers. The history of imprisonment can be traced back all the way to the ancient world.

Mesopotamian Imprisonment

The earliest known use of imprisonment as a form of punishment can be traced to the Mesopotamian civilization. In the oldest known surviving law code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, it is written that:

If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver.

In another Mesopotamian law code, the famous Code of Hammurabi, it is written: