Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
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