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Chandler Murphy
Humanities
Chapter I (1): Ancient Mesopotamia
5/6/2017
Mr. Baskin 6-C
“If a Freeman has put out the eye of another Freeman, they shall put out his eye”- The Code of
Hammurabi. This was a quote from the code of laws that the king of one of the three Ancient
Mesopotamian empires. Through the years some of the city-states in Mesopotamia had wars to gain
other city-states’ land and build an empire. Hammurabi was from the Babylonian Empire.
The oldest empire was the Sumerian Empire, that lasted from about 3,500 BC to 2,500 BC, this
was smaller than the empires that would follow it. The Sumerian Empire had citystates, such as Kish, Nippur, Uruk, Ur and Eridu. The definition of empire is a group
of lands and people ruled by one government, so in this case all of the city-states
were ruled by Sargon, the king. Sargon created the Sumerian Empire (on the side
there is a picture of a statue of Sargon) and his empire ruled for 1000 years until it
was conquered, of these 1000 years Sargon ruled for 56 of them (approximately).
However, at first Sargon was only the king of the city-state of Kish. To create this
empire wars were held between the city-states, and most of them were not for the
gaining of empire, most were for gaining control of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Here, in the Sumerian Empire in 3,500 BC cuneiform was invented, one of the
world’s earliest writing systems. In Ancient Mesopotamia cuneiform would be
used to write laws and other things. Cuneiform was written on wet clay tablets
with river reed pens.
In the Sumerian Empire the father of the family was
the head of the family.
The sons were taught
to be leaders and
heads of their family,
while daughters were
taught to be wives,
mothers
and
businesswomen.
Regardless of anything
(anything you wanted
to do or something
along the lines of that), if you were a member of a poor
family you had to work. Most families grew wheat, barley, beans, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, herbs,
palm trees and pomegranate tress (two of these crops are pictured (onions growing and a pomegranate
tree). To water these crops irrigation canals would be made running from the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers to the fields, which would later create surplus. Along with growing crops the Sumerian families
herded sheep and goats for their milk and wool and cattle as work animals and to produce meat. The
father was the head of the family, so the wives and other women could never have the same rights as
men, women couldn’t divorce their husband, but the husband only had to pay a $50 fine to do so.
In the down time Sumerian families loved to tell stories, one of the most famous stories is The
Epic of Gilgamesh (which a fragment of is pictured), which is still around
today. This story is about Gilgamesh, a king setting out on a journey to
find out how humans could live forever. Many people also enjoyed
playing board games, while others enjoyed music and festivals.
Chandler Murphy
Humanities
Chapter I (1): Ancient Mesopotamia
5/6/2017
Mr. Baskin 6-C
Later the Sumerian Empire was conquered by the Babylonian Empire, that lasted from 1750 BC
to 611 BC. Famous city-states in the Babylonian Empire include Assyria, Nineveh, and Ashur. A man
named Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire, otherwise called Babylonia and all of Mesopotamia.
Hammurabi ordered repairs to canals and he acted as a judge using simple Sumerian laws. This
code of law that Hammurabi used is called the Code of Hammurabi
(which is pictured). The Code of Hammurabi states that not every
man was created equal, Babylonia had slavery and slavery was the
reason that this is stated. Like a modern day law system the Code of
Hammurabi dealt with almost everything, such as divorce laws,
workers’ pay, doctors fees, and even clumsy barbers! A code of law,
such as this one is a collection of written laws that apply to one
government. The Code of Hammurabi was displayed in a big six-foot
pillar with the laws carved into it in cuneiform and a picture of
Hammurabi on it.
Here is an exert from the Code of Hammurabi (primary source
document)
[So] that the strong may not oppress the weak, to give justice
to the orphan and the widow, I have inscribed my precious words…
If a Freeman has put out the eye of another Freeman, they shall put
out his eye.
If he breaks the bone of another Freeman, they shall break his bone.
If he puts out the eye of a Poor Man, or breaks the bone of a Poor Man, he shall pay 1 mina [17.5
ounces] of silver. If he puts out the eye of a Slave of another Freeman, … he shall pay half his [the
slave’s] price.
If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition… if then the dam break and all the fields be
flooded; then shall he… be sold for money [as a slave], and the money shall replace the corn which he
has… ruined.
As far as society went every empire was basically the same.
Soon after Hammurabi’s death Babylonia began to weaken, and Assyria started to conquer the
Fertile Crescent. Some of the first city-states to leave the Babylonian Empire were Ashur and Nineveh.
Assyria began to fight against other city-states to conquer them so they could have a big empire.
Soon Assyria had a gigantic empire that conquered the Babylonian Empire, stretching from Egypt to the
Persian Gulf. In the Assyrian Empire prisoners of war were brought to the empire to work as slaves, who
worked the farmlands and building projects. Some of these prisoners managed to escape and go back to
where they came from and others started families in the Assyrian Empire.
The Standard of Ur (which is pictured on the next page) tells us even more about the wars of the
city-states. From my observations I have learned that the Empires used chariots pulled by some kind of
animals, but all of the chariots aren’t the same, it looks like the ones in the top left row and bottom left
row are better than the other ones. It also looks like there is slaves as well as soldiers fighting. It also
looks like the richer army is attacking the more poor army. From The Standard of Ur I’ve also noticed
that it looks like, in the middle left row the people are carrying daggers.
Chandler Murphy
Humanities
Chapter I (1): Ancient Mesopotamia
5/6/2017
Mr. Baskin 6-C
Therefore, some very strong city-states have stood out and created empires because of that.
These empires rule for awhile and then get conquered and become pieces of other empires.
A map of the Sumerian Empire A map of the Babylonian Empire
Bibliography (Sources)
 Our World
 The Standard of Ur (War)
 The Code of Hammurabi
A map of the Assyrian Empire