AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Hammurabi code eye for an eye11/8/2022 ![]() Sitting with students in a circle, I lead a discussion of the Code, with a particular focus on selections illustrating the varied punishments for crimes according to class and gender. This usually provokes them to think about the responsibilities of the public and their need to know the laws once they are written down, as well as the enforcement privileges that codification gives to those maintaining law and order.Īt last, the time comes to talk about the source itself. Also, I conduct a discussion with students about the meaning of governments writing down laws for public consumption. This is an important concept for students to recognize because it lends tremendous credibility for Hammurabi in his ability to enforce the laws he presents in his Code. I find this to be a useful exercise because it provides a visual representation of the Mesopotamian belief that government officials received their authority from the gods. I begin by showing a picture of Hammurabi receiving his authority from the Babylonian deities, taken from monument copies of the Code. ![]() However, when they learn about the efficiency of cuneiform for the expansion of literacy, and subsequent governmental regulation and authority over an increasingly literate public, they are better able to understand the importance of codified laws such as Hammurabi’s Code for the development of expansive civilizations.Īfter presenting the above contextual information, I mediate a class discussion about Hammurabi’s Code itself. The transition from pictographs and hieroglyphics to cuneiform, and its possibilities for the spread of bureaucracy and literacy, is something that is not immediately obvious to students. One of the most important lessons to focus on in preparation for a discussion of Hammurabi’s Code is a unit on the significance of cuneiform. Thus, by the time we come to discuss the source in class, students have been introduced to several key concepts regarding the text, both theoretical and historically specific. This book provides a hypothesis about the way patriarchal control developed in prehistoric societies, and uses Hammurabi’s Code as supporting evidence for the eventual codification of patriarchal values in extensive, bureaucratic civilizations. Because I approach the source from a position of gender and class, I have also assigned Gerda Lerner’s The Creation of Patriarchy 2 in conjunction with the source. My approach is to provide an introductory lecture about the social, political, and spiritual values of the Mesopotamians, as well as to assign readings from a textbook 1 that provides primary evidence to support my points. ![]() #Hammurabi code eye for an eye how to#Preparing students is essential for a solid understanding of how to contextualize this source. I have used this text very successfully in my lower-level undergraduate World Civilizations course, integrating it not only into units on the contributions of Tigris-Euphrates civilizations, but also in the context of thematic discussions of the influence of patriarchy and religion on government structures. ![]() It also gives students a clear sense of the ways ancient Babylonians invested divine authority in their secular leaders. #Hammurabi code eye for an eye professional#One of the most influential codifications of law in ancient history, the text provides students with a concrete example of the expanding influence of centralized government on the personal and professional lives of the general population. Department of History, University of Central FloridaĪn extremely useful source for discussions of Mesopotamian government and society is the Babylonian document Hammurabi’s Code (circa 1780 BCE). ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |