Hammurabi’s Code activity

By the early fourth millennium B. C By the early fourth millennium B.C., the population of the Tigris - Euphrates increased; and city-states arose.  By 2000 BC the cities of Sumer had grown so large that some like Ur, the capital city, had populations more than 200,000 persons. . Hammurabi (ca. 1792 - 1750 BC) united all of Mesopotamia under his forty-three year reign of Babylon.  Although Hammurabi's Code is not the first code of laws (the first records date four centuries earlier), it is the best preserved legal document reflecting the social structure of Babylon during Hammurabi's rule.

One of the problems facing early civilizations was setting up laws to govern themselves once people started living in communities instead of hunting, gathering, and roaming for food. Four thousand years later, we take a lot of this for granted……

Brainstorm…. What are the positive and negative aspects of people starting in live in villages, towns, and large communities? Positives Negatives

Hammurabi’s Code http://mesopotamia. lib. uchicago

Rulers of ancient Babylon believed that gods entrusted them to deal fairly with their people. These laws were to protect the oppressed and safeguard human rights. Hammurabi called himself, “the king of justice to whom Shamash has committed the truth.”

Activity Directions: There are 8 scenarios posted around the room. Each scenario is a situation that Hammurabi faced. Read the scenario and decide what should be done to achieve justice. You must reach consensus with your group.

Hammurabi Decrees in code 229… a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction sound, and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death.

Hammurabi decrees in code 110 If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living in a convent opens a wine shop or enters a wine shop for a drink, they shall burn that woman.

Hammurabi decrees in code 117 If a man be in debt and is unable to pay his creditors, he shall sell his wife, son, or daughter, or bind them over to service. For three years they shall work in the houses of their purchaser or master; in the fourth year they shall be given their freedom.

Hammurabi decrees in code 109 If bad characters gather in the house of a wine seller and she does not arrest those characters and bring them to the palace, that wine seller shall be put to death.

Hammurabi decrees in code 143 If the woman has not been careful but has gadded about, neglecting her house and belittling her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water.