1. Adapted from http://www.phillipmartin.info/hammurabi/homepage.htm
K. Lowther
Arts & Humanities
Adapted from

2. The Rise of Early Civilizations: By the early fourth millennium B. C
The Rise of Early Civilizations: 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 of more than 200,000 persons.
Ziggurat—Ur

3. Hammurabi, the Priest King (ca
Hammurabi, the Priest King (ca 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.

4. Hammurabi Quick Facts:
Ruler of Babylonia & all of Mesopotamia, B.C.
Had Governors to rule lands for him, but maintained a strong central government
Established 282 Law of the Empire (The Code of Hammurabi); preserved on stone.
Covered religion, irrigation, military service, trade, slavery, duties of workers.
Gave protection to women and children.
Responsible life framed by law and order.

5. About the Code: Two hundred eighty-two laws, concerning a wide variety of abuses, justify Hammurabi's claim of having acted "like a real father to his people [who] has established prosperity and (gave) good government to the land."

6. The laws were discovered in 1901 on a stela now in the Louvre Museum of Paris, France. 

7. Hammurabi Hands to Mouth— Sign of Prayer Rays of Sun—Sun God
Cone-horned Headdress—
Marks him as a deity
Hammurabi
Hands to Mouth—
Sign of Prayer
Rays of Sun—Sun God
Ring and Scepter:
Symbols of Power
Ziggurat Throne

8. What would Hammurabi do?
“Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred the law, am I…When Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the protection of right to the land, I did right and in righteousness brought about the well-being of the oppressed. “

9. Following are situations Hammurabi faced
Following are situations Hammurabi faced.  Decide what you think to be a fair way to deal with the problem.
1. What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
2. What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
3. What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
4. What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
5. What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
6. What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
7. What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
8. How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?

10. What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
If 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.

11. 2. What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
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.

12. 3. What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
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.

13. 4. What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
If a man takes in his own home a young boy as a son and rears him, one may not bring claim for that adopted son.

14. 5. What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
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.

15. 6. What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand.

16. 7. What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
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.

17. 8. How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.

18. Exit Slip
On the same paper on which you gave your answers, respond to the following:
Sum up Hammurabi’s Code in one sentence.
What are some good things about his Code? Bad things?
In your opinion, do you think this sort of code could be beneficial, if reinstituted today? What would the effects be on crime and personal freedoms?