1792 B.C. During the Reign of Hammurabi
What Is Mesopotamia?
Mesopotamia means the land between rivers. We excel highly at agriculture and architecture. We have really fertile land to grow crops, we are also masters of building things using mud bricks. We are located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Daily Life
All people in Mesopotamia love to eat! Beef, lamb, pork, goat, ducks, and geese are the meats of choice. Fish, turtles, and shellfish are plentiful in the rivers and canals nearby. Barley and wheat are the staple foods. Also, there are law codes that everyone must follow at all times. Our King, Hammurabi, just came up with a brilliant set of codes, it's name the Hammurabi's Code.
Social Classes
The primary topic for Mesopotamia is the way society was divided up. Our society promotes order with strong and central leadership, which is why we have a king. Contrary to popular belief, we do not worship the king as gods. Ur-Nammu, one of the great kings of our society, built many great temples for us, we worshipped him in return. Our social hierarchy goes like this:
• Slaves
- Bottom of the hierarchy, owned by other citizens
• Commoners
- Laboring lower class of our society, 85% farmers
• Artisans/Merchants
- Produces the wealth that makes our civilization possible
• Scribes
- They are the educated class that are able to read and write. They kept daily records.
• Priests
- Upper class of our society. They are considered "Doctors." They are really influential because of their relations with god.
• King
- Pinnacle of social order. Word of the king is law.
Law
Currently in Mesopotamia, we are using Hammurabi's code. It is a great list of laws that King Hammurabi inscribed on stone tablets. Hammurabi was not the first one to make a list of codes though, Ur-Nammu was. The purpose of the laws was to protect the weak from the powerful. Here are some laws Ur-Nammu made for us.
1. If a man commits a homicide, they shall kill that man.
2. If a man acts lawlessly, they shall kill him.
3, If a man detains another, that man shall be imprisoned and he shall weigh and deliver 15 shekels of silver.
6. If a man violates the rights of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male.
Now we have Hammurabi's code which consists 282 laws. Hammurabi goes into depth a lot more than the other law-makers did. Some examples were but not limited to:
236. If a man rent a boat to a sailor, and the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor shall give the owner of the boat a new boat as compensation.
229. If a builder build a house for someone and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
Written by: Stanley Zeng of Mesopotamia
What Is Mesopotamia?
Mesopotamia means the land between rivers. We excel highly at agriculture and architecture. We have really fertile land to grow crops, we are also masters of building things using mud bricks. We are located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Daily Life
All people in Mesopotamia love to eat! Beef, lamb, pork, goat, ducks, and geese are the meats of choice. Fish, turtles, and shellfish are plentiful in the rivers and canals nearby. Barley and wheat are the staple foods. Also, there are law codes that everyone must follow at all times. Our King, Hammurabi, just came up with a brilliant set of codes, it's name the Hammurabi's Code.
Social Classes
The primary topic for Mesopotamia is the way society was divided up. Our society promotes order with strong and central leadership, which is why we have a king. Contrary to popular belief, we do not worship the king as gods. Ur-Nammu, one of the great kings of our society, built many great temples for us, we worshipped him in return. Our social hierarchy goes like this:
• Slaves
- Bottom of the hierarchy, owned by other citizens
• Commoners
- Laboring lower class of our society, 85% farmers
• Artisans/Merchants
- Produces the wealth that makes our civilization possible
• Scribes
- They are the educated class that are able to read and write. They kept daily records.
• Priests
- Upper class of our society. They are considered "Doctors." They are really influential because of their relations with god.
• King
- Pinnacle of social order. Word of the king is law.
Law
Currently in Mesopotamia, we are using Hammurabi's code. It is a great list of laws that King Hammurabi inscribed on stone tablets. Hammurabi was not the first one to make a list of codes though, Ur-Nammu was. The purpose of the laws was to protect the weak from the powerful. Here are some laws Ur-Nammu made for us.
1. If a man commits a homicide, they shall kill that man.
2. If a man acts lawlessly, they shall kill him.
3, If a man detains another, that man shall be imprisoned and he shall weigh and deliver 15 shekels of silver.
6. If a man violates the rights of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male.
Now we have Hammurabi's code which consists 282 laws. Hammurabi goes into depth a lot more than the other law-makers did. Some examples were but not limited to:
236. If a man rent a boat to a sailor, and the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor shall give the owner of the boat a new boat as compensation.
229. If a builder build a house for someone and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
Written by: Stanley Zeng of Mesopotamia
Hammurabi's Code
Social Hierarchy