1. The Legacy of Mesopotamia Chapter 2 Section 3

2. An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth……. “If a man has destroyed the eye of a man if the class of gentleman, they shall destroy his eye. If he has broken a gentleman’s bone, they shall break his bone. If he destroyed the eye of a commoner or broken a bone of a commoner, he shall pay one mina of silver. If he has destroyed the eye of a gentleman’s slave, or broken a bone of the gentleman’s slave, he shall pay half the slaves price. If a gentleman’s slave strikes the cheek of a gentleman, they shall cut off the slave’s ear.”

3. A King to the South King Hammurabi: – King of the city-state Babylon. – Southern Mesopotamia. – Reunited the city-states of Sumer. – Built Dams across the Euphrates River. – Gave him complete power of city-sates blow him. – Controlled all of Mesopotamia.

4. Hammurabi’s Code Code: – Organized list of Laws. Discovered in 1901. 6 foot tall Pillar with 200 laws carved into it. 1 st organized recorded set of laws to be found.

5. The Laws of Hammurabi 282 laws organized into categories. – Trade. – Labor. – Property. – Family. Built upon pervious Sumerian codes. Posted all around the City Everyone was not equal under the code of laws. King Hammurabi was also the Judge of the city.

6. Were they fair…. Idea based on “eye for an eye”. Punishment should be similar to the crime committed. The harshness of the punishment depended on how important the victim and the lawbreaker were. Had to be careful of your actions and job duties. Examples: – If a surgeon performed a major operation on a citizen with a bronze lancet and has caused the death of this citizen…his hand shall be cut off.” – “If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn.”

7. Checking For Understanding Question: –What was Hammurabi’s code? Answer: – Was a set of Written Laws created by the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi. – These laws set down rules for the people in his empire to follow and helped settle conflicts.

8. Development of Writing Ancient Scribes: –Writing 1 st developed in Mesopotamia around 1300 B.C. –1 st kept records were of farm animals. –Records kept on clay tablets. – Recorded: Sales and trade. Tax payments. Gifts for the Gods. Marriages and Deaths. Types of Scribes: – Military Scribes: Calculated the amount of food and supplies the army would need. – Government Scribe: Figured out number of diggers needed to build a canal. Written orders would then be sent out to local officials to provide the supplies or workers.

9. A Record in Clay Tigris and Euphrates –Supplied clay from the Mountains. Scribes would shape the wet clay, into a flat surface. Called Tablets. Would make their mark on it while it was wet. After it would dry and become permanent. Shape and size of Tablet depended on its purpose. – Larger tablets: Used for reference purposes. Ex: Dictionary, Atlas. – Smaller Tablets: Size of letters, postcards. Used for personal messages.

10. How Writing was Invented Before writing: Used shaped pieces of clay as tokens or symbols. Kept track of: – Number of Animals bought and sold. – Amount of food grown. 3100 B.C. developed into writing. First words represented Symbols of objects. Symbols changed into Cuneiform: – Groups of wedges and lines used to write several languages of the Fertile Crescent.

11. Checking for Understanding Question: – When, Where, and How did writing first develop? Answer : – Writing was first developed in Mesopotamia around 3100 B.C. – 1 st people drew symbols that represented objects. – Symbols developed into groups of wedges and lines that were called cuneiform. Taking more of a word shape.