Depending on if you were a nobleman, citizen, or slave, your death was different. If the Egyptian man accused of magic had not been a nobleman, he would have most likely been executed with an ax. In many countries, the death penalty was slightly different based on a person’s class. Historically, the death penalty was different depending on your social status A member of the nobility was found guilty of performing magic. The first recorded death sentence took place in 16th-century BCE Egypt. If someone accused an elder of a crime, but the accused was found not guilty, the accuser was executed. In King Hammurabi’s code, anyone caught committing a robbery would be killed. In the past, many crimes came with the death penalty. The crimes punishable by death vary significantly through the years Here are ten facts about the death penalty in the past, present, and where it might go from here. As societies change, the death penalty changes, too. The Hittites, Athenians, and Romans also utilized capital punishment. The Code of King Hammurabi established the first death penalty laws for 25 different crimes. The death penalty (also known as capital punishment) goes back as far as the 18th-century BCE.