For me I always felt that it was an example of law and order. They were codes that informed people of how they should live their live or how a society should function. Basically they are laws that Hammurabi created that helped govern his people or a nation. Look at it in a similar light like the 10 Commandments. These commandments were laws that God had given Moses to give to the Jewish people and that was what they had to live by. Hopefully this makes sense.