Study of World Legal History Before the Colonial Period
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55927/mudima.v5i10.657Keywords:
World Legal History, Pre-Colonial Law, Ancient Civilizations, Philosophy of Law, Legal SystemsAbstract
This paper aims to explore and analyze the evolution of legal systems across several major civilizations—namely Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, India, China, pre-Islamic Arabia, and Medieval Europe—through historical, philosophical, and comparative approaches. By examining classical legal texts, legal philosophies, and contemporary academic studies, this research identifies the fundamental characteristics, principles, and values underlying each civilization’s legal framework. Using a qualitative methodology combined with historical-comparative analysis, data were collected from a wide range of scholarly literature, including ancient legal codes, philosophical treatises, and modern research findings. The results reveal that pre-colonial civilizations shared essential similarities in viewing law as both an instrument of legitimacy and a mechanism of social order. Nevertheless, they differed in the sources of legal legitimacy—ranging from divine revelation, customary norms, to human rationality. The findings affirm that modern legal systems, whether belonging to the civil law or common law traditions, are deeply rooted in pre-colonial legal thought. The universal ideals of justice, morality, and legal certainty found in contemporary law are products of a long historical evolution stemming from the values embedded in ancient societies. Hence, the study of world legal history before colonization serves not only as a historical exploration but also as a philosophical reflection on how law has continuously shaped—and been shaped by—human civilization throughout history
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