List all school rules and laws you can think of in two minutes.
Then,
What do these laws tell us about our school?
For example, if walking in a single file is a rule, it might say that safety and order are important to the school.
King Hammurabi
Hammurabi was a king of Babylonia in southern Mesopotamia (the site of present-day Iraq). He probably ruled for about 40 years beginning in 1792 B.C. Babylon was one of several city-states in this area near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Hammurabi was a skilled military leader and under his leadership, Babylon conquered the other city-states of the area and united much of Mesopotamia under his authority.
Hammurabi was also a skilled administrator. He is most famous for his code of laws. Many of these laws came from the city-state of Sumer, but they added a new concept — that of revenge instead of just punishment. For example, under Sumerian law, the punishment for crimes was often a fine; under Hammurabi’s law, the guideline was “an eye for an eye.” Punishment also depended on who was wronged. If a person put out the eye of a slave, he would not lose his eye but would pay a fine. If that person put out the eye of a noble man, he would lose his eye as punishment.
Hammurabi had his laws posted throughout Babylonia. They were written on stone slabs and placed in prominent places for the people to see. There were 282 laws as far as we know. Interestingly, there was no law number 13 — it was an unlucky number even then.
Now, check out the laws below in groups.
Hammurabi's Code
Study these laws taken from the Code of Hammurabi, and then answer the questions below.
1. If a person accuses another person of a crime, the accused shall go to the river and jump in. If he drowns, the person who accused him may have the accused person's house. If the accused doesn't drown, then the River-God has decided that he is innocent. The person who made the accusation is to be put to death, and the accused shall take his house.
2. If anyone opens his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water floods the field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss.
3. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded.
4. If a physician kills a patient or cuts out a patient's eye when trying to remove a tumor, the physicians' hands will be cut off.
5. If a builder builds a house and the house collapses and kills the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death. If the house collapses and kills the owner's son, then the son of the builder shall be put to death.
6. If a son hits his father, his hands shall be cut off.
7. If a fire breaks out in a house and a person who helps to put out the fire steals something from the house, that person shall be thrown into the fire.
8. If a man destroys the eye of another man, his eye shall be destroyed. If he breaks the bone of another, his bone shall be broken.
9. If a man's wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is found guilty: if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as a servant in her husband's house.
10. If a man wishes to divorce his wife, he must return her dowry and give her the use of part of his field for farming and part of his property so that she can provide for her children.
11. If a man's wife becomes sick, the husband may take a second wife, but must continue to care for the sick wife as long as she lives.
12. If a person steals from a temple or takes goods stolen from the temple, he shall be put to death.
Based on these laws, what can we learn about Babylonian society? Record your answers
below.
Religion: ____________________________________________________________________
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Marriage: ____________________________________________________________________
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Making a living: _______________________________________________________________
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Other aspects of Babylonian society: ______________________________________________
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- From the laws that you studied today, which one do you think is best? Worst? Explain your answers.
- Ask your parents to tell you which of our present laws they think are best and worst. Ask them why they chose those laws. Record their answers.
- With your parents, brainstorm careers that would need to have a strong knowledge of our law code. (Think “outside the box” on this one; who besides law enforcement people need to be familiar with the laws of our city/county/state?)
