Expert: Irulan Serena - 8/9/2004

Question
Dear Irulan,

I have a homework question if you can help with it, that would be great. It's a reading selection and a question.

"Hammurabi, as king of Babylon, united Mesopotamia under his rule from about 1800 to 1750 B.C.E. His law code, the earliest such compilation still in existence, was discovered on a stone slab in Iran in 1901 C.E. Not a systematic presentation, it was a collection of exemplary cases designed to ser general standards of justice. The code provides vital insights into the nature of social relations and family structure in this ancient civilization. Examples of the Hammurabic code follow:

'When Marduk commanded me to give justice to the people of the land and to let (them) have (good) governance, I set forth truth and justice throughout the land (and) prospered the people. At that time:
If a man has accused a man and has charged him with manslaughter and then has not proved it against him, his accuser shall be put to death.
If a man has charged a man with sorcery and then has not proved it against him, he who is charged with the sorcery shall go to the holy river; he shall leap into the holy river and, if the holy river overwhelms him, his accuser shall take and keep his housel if the holy river proves that man clear of the offense and he comes back safe, he who has charged him with sorcery shall be put to death; he who leapt into the holy river shall take and keep the house of his accuser.
If a man has come forward in a case to bear witness to a felony and then has not proved the statement that he has made, if that case is a capitol one, that man shall be put to death.
If he has come forward to bear witness to a claim for corn or money, he shall remain liable for the penalty for that suit.
If a judge has tried a suit, given a decision, caused a sealed tabled to be executed, and thereafter varies his judgment, they shall convict that judge of varying his judgment and he shall pay twelvefold the claim in that suit; then they shall remove him from his place on the bench of judges in the assembly, and he shall not again sit in judgment with the judges.
If a free person helps a slave to escape, the free person will be put to death.
If a man has committed robbery and his caught, that man shall be put to death.
If the robber is not caught, the man who has been robbed shall formally declare whatever he has lost before a god, and the city and the mayor in whose territory or district the robbery has been committed shall replace whatever he lost for him.
If it is the life of the owner that is lost, the city or the mayor shall pay one maneh of silver to his kinsfolk.
If a person owes money and Adad (the river god) has flooded the person's field, the person will not give any grain (tax) or pay any interest in that year.
If a person is too lazy to make the dike of his field strong and there is a break in the dike and water destroys his own farmland, that person will make good the grain tax that is destroyed.
If a merchant increases interest beyond that set by the king and collects it, that merchant will lose what was lent.
If a trader borrows money from a merchant and then denies the fact, that merchant in the presence of god and witnesses will prove the trader borrowed the money and the trader will pay the merchant three times the amount borrowed.
If the husband of a married lady has accused her but she is not caught lying with another man, she shall take an oath by the life of a god and return to her house.
If a man takes himself and there is not the necessary maintenance in his house, his wife (so long as) her (husband is delayed, shall keep herself chaste, she shall not enter another man's house.
If that woman has not kept herself chaste but enters another man's house, they shall convict the woman and cast her into the water.
If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his forehand.
If a man has put out the eye of a free man, they shall put out his eye.
If he breaks the bone of a free man, they shall break his bone.
If he puts out the eye of a villain or breaks the bone of a villain, he shall pay one maneh of silver.
If he puts out the eye of a free man's slave or breaks the bone of a free man's slave, he shall pay half his price.
If a man knocks out the tooth of a free man equal in rank to himself, they shall knock out his tooth.
If he knocks out the tooth of a villain, he shall pay one-third maneh of silver. If a villain strikes the cheek of a villain, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.
If the slave of a free man strikes the cheek of a free man, they shall cut off his ear.'”

Questions: What can you tell from the Hammurabic code about the social and family structure of Mesopotamia? What is the relationship between law and trade? Why did agricultural civilizations such as Babylon insist on harsh punishments for crimes? What religious and magical beliefs does the document suggest? Using specific examples, show how interpreting this document for significant historical meaning differs from simply reading it.


Answer
Hello  A,

As members of this site we are not supposed to answer homework questions.  As a teacher [retired] I do not think it is fair to give you the answers outright, instead all I can do is give you suggestions as to where to find help.
So ...let's take each of your questions in turn:


1 What can you tell from the Hammurabic code about the social and family structure of Mesopotamia?

Suggestion:

Keywords:  family structure, social structure - Mesopotamia

Location:  any of the multiple search engines - Google, Altavista, Excite, Yahoo, Dogpile, etc.  

Here is a link and a summary of all search engines on the web:

http://www.registereverywhere.com/engines1.php?a=

EX: from Goggle
Ancient Civilizations, Ragz-International
... animals, and created fairly complex social structures with class ... The Sumerian culture
of Mesopotamia was discovered in the ... living in tribes or family units did ...
ragz-international.com/ancient_civilization.htm - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

Sumerians

Social Structure. Each Sumerian city-state had a distinct social hierarchy (HI
uh ... The highest class included the ruling family, leading officials, and high ...
home.cfl.rr.com/crossland/AncientCivilizations/ Middle_East_Civilizations/Sumerians/sumerians.html - 35k - Cached - Similar pages


2 What is the relationship between law and trade?

Clue - think if "fair practices" in the use of legal tender ....  why laws are needed

Same suggestion as above
Keywords:  relation between law and trade

Why did agricultural civilizations such as Babylon insist on harsh punishments for crimes?  

Does our soceity have harch punishments today?  Why?

Why do we today

3 What religious and magical beliefs does the document suggest? This is pretty clear if you have read the document...read it again and think of the major difference between then and now.

4 Using specific examples, show how interpreting this document for significant historical meaning differs from simply reading it. This you have to do on  your own because you NEED TO RED IT....if you cannot understand it then search for:

Keywords analysis / summary / interpretation / of Code of Hammurabi

Again, sorry but direct answers are your responsibility....just follow the clues and the suggestions.

Hope this helps,

Irulan