The Babylonian Empire was one of the most powerful states in the entire ancient world. Its success lied within the government structure and agriculture. Babylonia was always a great center of culture and trade, where cultural diffusion occurred. Due to the prosperity of the empire, it attracted merchants and traders from afar to share their ideas and products. The Babylonian Empire’s government structure and the policies that the rulers put forth affected the culture, economy, and lifestyle of its people. The Babylonian Empire was very strong because of its firm and effective government. Although the rulers of Babylonia were emperors, they didn’t always acts like tyrants or dictators, but rather worked to preserve order and peace throughout …show more content…
Many punishments involved death, which created more protection throughout the empire due to Hammurabi’s Code. The laws revolved around every aspect of society, including marriage, adoption, and commercial matters. These very specific laws were made so that nobody was taken advantage of and everything occurred swiftly during transactions. Also, the laws set out the nature of the relationship between Hammurabi, the gods, and the people being ruled (Jarus, 2017). The gods took part in Hammurabi’s Code because Hammurabi believed that the gods sent him to rule. Some of the laws have the gods determine the criminal’s fate, in order to make sure that the gods destroy the wicked. Hammurabi created this extensive and harsh code of laws so that everyone was protected from harm and unwanted problems, and that they had enjoyable lives. However, Hammurabi wasn’t the only Babylonian Emperor that took efforts to make Babylonia a better place. Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar worked hard to better their empire. According to The Cambridge Ancient History, “His letters, dealing with affairs on the northern borders, show that his duties as crown-prince entailed a share in the cares of government” (Page 61). Sennacherib cared about how he …show more content…
A majority of Babylonian life revolved around agriculture because its geographic location, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, gave them a lot of fertile land. The key to wealth in the Babylonian Empire was through trade. Merchants were supported and great trading centers were built in the empire, so that the king would be able to gain wealth by taxing the foreign merchants (Bible History). Babylonians greatly succeeded in trade because of their agricultural surplus (Albright, Paragraph 23). They had more produce and access to goods that were scarce in other areas around them, so they had an advantage in trade. The agricultural surplus gave the Babylonians stability in their economy, which also made their empire stable (Bible History). They traded their agriculture for raw materials because that was rare in the Babylonian Empire (Albright, Paragraph 23). These raw materials were needed for daily life and used in the flourishing textile business. The raw materials were also used to create cabinet-making, gem-cutting, and metal-working industries in the empire that created jobs for the people (Bible History). All of this is credited to the protection offered by Hammurabi’s Code. Babylon was the place where all of this trade most likely occurred, since it was a political and religious capital of
One piece of evidence from Document D, law 53, 54 says, “ If a man has opened his trench for irrigation and the waters have flooded his neighbor’s field, the man must restore the crop he has caused to be lost.” This shows that this law protects the neighbors property from damage. This law is pretty important because farms are people's source of money. Most of the people in Hammurabi's empire were farmers. Also it’s mostly the other person's fault.
Hammurabi’s Code DBQ King Hammurabi’s rule began in the city of Babylon. He later then extended his control by taking over Larsa and Mari a large part of Mesopotamia. After expanding his land, Shamash, the god of justice presented him with a code of 232 laws (Doc A). These laws were then influenced throughout the community and were considered a part of the communities culture. I disagree with Hammurabi’s code because most laws were to cruel and targeted certain people.
These laws were helpful in creating a safe and robust economy which made sense as Hammurabi is known as one if not the most powerful ruler of the Mesopotamian area. Law 21 for example (Doc D) states if a man robs someone's home by breaking through it he should be hung in the hole he made. This may seem cruel or intemperate, but it prevents future thievery among others. A more relatable law is Law 48 (Doc D) stating if a man gets loaned money to farm, and rain flooded the field or specifically harmed crops he does not have to repay the loan borrowed. This is general fairness as it is even reflected today when natural disaster strikes and we are insured of our loss if maintaining the requirements.
So, he decided to make Hammurabi’s code with 282 laws organized by specific themes. Although a set of laws was needed, the severity of punishments in property and family laws sure outweighed any of the good laws he made. Hammurabi’s code was not just because of his family law. In law 129 it states “if a married lady is caught in adultery with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water” (Doc C) and that isn’t just because That’s not fair
Most of Hammurabi’s laws are not just to the people or society of Babylon. Now, picture in your mind, living in Babylon with Hammurabi as your ruler. Wasn’t as good as you
Hammurabi’s Code covered many issues, including trade, marriage, and divorce. I believe that Hammurabi’s code was fair and just. There many reasons why Hammurabi’s code was fair. For example, Property Law number 21 states: “If a man has broken through the wall [to rob] a house, they shall put him to death and pierce him, or hang him in the hole in the wall which he has made.” This law is fair because if you broke through someone’s wall, they will have to spend lots of time and money to repair it.
Based on what I read, according to these two laws, Hammurabi’s Code was too strict. As you can see, Hammurabi had harsh rules, instead of trying to fix things, he gave consequences. Additionally, it made people lose some kind of property. For example in Law 23, if a robbery has been made and the robber isn’t caught, the society has to give back the items. Also, in Law 48, if a man borrows money from another man for crops, and a natural disaster ruins the crops, the man doesn’t have to pay back for a while.
Population in ancient Babylon was growing, moving more people to cities to create a society. The rise of population created the advancement in agricultural technology. Agriculture depends on soil conditions, temperature and availability of water. Because water was easiest to manipulate, people were using the rivers and plains to create irrigation systems. As these agricultural technologies were advancing, communities were able to produce enough surplus to provide large populations.
Hammurabi once said, “The first duty of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful.” The weaker a person is, the stronger need of government protection is needed. Hammurabi became king of Babylon in 1792 BCE, he conquered most of southern Mesopotamia and attempted to protect the weak and form law and order. He did this by writing 282 laws in stone and enforcing the laws to the entire kingdom. Hammurabi's code was unjust.
Laws were as important in Hammurabi 's time as they are today because laws keep people safe and keeps everything fair. Hammurabi was a famous Babylonian king who ruled over Mesopotamia. He created the first set of written laws in his 38th year of his reign called the law code. He did this because he wanted to keep peace and order over Mesopotamia even if the laws were harsh. Many people are arguing over if Hammurabi 's code is just or unjust.
Funk and Wagnall New World Encyclopedia wrote, “The basis of criminal law is that of equal retaliation, comparable to the Semitic law of ‘an eye for an eye’”(“Hammurabi, Code of” 1). Hammurabi was the first to make the law code meaning he was the first to start the foundation for our law system today. He was the father of law and today his justice code is still apparent today. The code of Hammurabi was designed to protect the weak, which includes: women, children and slaves. Funk and Wagnall wrote, “It seeks to protect the weak and the poor, including women, children, and slaves, against injustice at the hands of the rich and powerful”(Hammurabi, Code of” 1).
The most significant factor that influenced the development of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was their geography, because their locations by large rivers led the civilizations to produce an abundance of food, leading to a population increase and for several cities to form which influenced the cultural, economic, and political influence of both civilizations. The flooding within both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia allowed their agriculture to thrive Mapping sentence for culture. Mapping sentence for economic. Mapping sentence for Political. Transition.
King Hammurabi’s codes were unjust because of the evidence found in the 282 laws. The codes that King Hammurabi wrote about were personal injury law, property law and family law. First, there is evidence that the codes were unjust. The first, code was personal injury law.
Hammurabi’s code gives judgements and consequences for certain crimes. The punishment for a crime depended on one’s social rank. There were essentially three classes; the priests and noble landlords, the freemen, and slaves. Each law illustrated the division in the societies social status. As a particular law read; “If a man has destroyed the eye of another free man, his own eye shall be destroyed.
Politically, both cultures respected the other as equals and engaged in trade. The Middle Kingdom acknowledged that they were no longer entirely in control of all resources. Socially writing was excellent between the two kingdoms. Under Hammurabi the Babylonians had a set of laws, and the Egyptians excelled at writing.