The Birth of Western Civilization Around 4000 B.C.E, the first people settled down next to the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, alongside the Nile in Egypt, and much later in Greece. Naturally, the people in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece developed different lifestyles. To most, Egyptian life was much different than that of the Mesopotamians. Even within Greece, the Hellenistic and Classical Greeks showed discrepancies in their customs. Though massive tracks of land separated them, congruencies between their cultures also existed. Most prominent are the overlaps and disparities between the topics of women, slaves, religion, and the law. Among the first things settlers in Mesopotamia and Egypt wrote down were laws, most famous among …show more content…
Amid the first slaves in the ancient world were prisoners of war. However, natives weren’t exempted from becoming slaves. There were three instances where a native of the land could become a slave: when a parent sold their children, adults self-sold themselves, and defaulting on debts. Mendelsohn reports interest rates as high as, “20-25% on sliver and 33(1/3)% on grain”, making debt slavery the most common form of enslavement. At first, it seemed that if one defaulted on a debt, they became the property of the creditor for life, but both the Hebrew Bible and Hammurabi’s Law Code set limits on the longevity of the debtor’s servitude. Mendelsohn highlights the fact that for the Hebrews, “a debtor-slave is free after six years of service,” and in Hammurabi’s Law Code it, “demands the release of a debtor-slave in the fourth year”. The process of become a slave was pretty universal, but obtaining freedom is different depending on the person’s location and …show more content…
James, referring to how Egyptians determine punishment states that, “The principle here seems clearly to be that criminal wrong-doing should be dealt with arbitrarily and physically…On the other hand, legal processes ought to be invoked for the settlement of non-criminal cases”. Not only are crimes not being investigated, but also no trials are being held either; a simple, capricious punishment is administered. Concurrently, in Mesopotamia, Hammurabi’s Law Code has assigned pretty specific guidelines for punishment. Most famous among them is, “an eye for an eye”. Furthermore, witnesses, written evidence, and a written verdict were all required in cases held in Mesopotamian courts. So far Mesopotamia looks like the ideal place to have your trial in the ancient world, if you were rich. Getting one’s case heard if they were nobody was impossible in Egypt and Mesopotamia. According to James, “position and influence mattered in ancient Egypt just as they have mattered in other countries and other societies”. No matter where one went to have their case heard, if they had no importance, there was very little chance their case would be heard.
James did a wonderful job illustrating the Egyptian legal system though the use of literary works of the time, but literary works aren’t the same as law codes. Since there were so few law codes and the ones that did exist were vague, it’s very difficult
The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt began to develop circa 3,000 B.C. Located near rivers, the lands offered fertile soil and an excess of crops that drew in many people. As more people arrived, the small settlements flourished into large, thriving civilizations. Many aspects of Mesopotamia and Egypt, such as their cities, their strongly organized government, and their religion, greatly contributed to the success of these two civilizations.
The capital of this civilization was the city of Babylon. To keep peace among people living so closely together, they needed rules. King Hammurabi, who ruled around 2000 BCE, drew up the first recorded set of laws. The Code of Hammurabi, as these laws were called, set down harsh penalties for those who broke the laws like, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” You might question why and how did they come up with that type of code? That’s a good question! The creation of “the Code” was a tremendous achievement for not only Babylonian society but for the entire Mesopotamian region as King Hammurabi was ruler over all of that area. Its conception can be considered to be the first culmination of the laws of different regions into a single, logical text. Hammurabi wanted to be an efficient ruler and realized that this could be achieved through the use of a common set of laws which applied to all territories and all citizens who fell under his rule. But how and where did put these codes at? This is when the writing system came
What would happen if there were modern courts during biblical times? If there were modern courts then a jury would have been tasked with deciding who was guilty in the rape and murder case involving King David and Bathsheba. The jury would need to read the text that describes the events very deeply and in a detailed manner before they came to a conclusion. In the case of the Bathsheba incident they would need to read 2 Samuel 11 and 2 Samuel 12. The jury would find Bathsheba innocent of any wrong doing because she was under the control of the powerful king David, she had no choice but to act as she did, and she did not initiate any of the violence that occurred. David was guilty of rape and murder because he was in control the entire time.
Like I said earlier, the biblical concept of slavery is much different than what would have been seen in the 1700’s and 1800’s. The OT records different types of slaves however none of these are the same as the slaves in the last few hundred years. There were two basic types of slaves in biblical times: foreigners and debtors.
One of the most important aspects of any society is the ruling system. A society simply could not function without any sort of rules or regulations. With the tremendous growth of Babylonian society came the need for law systems. Perhaps one of the most well known law systems was Babylonian ruler Hammurabi’s compilation of Mesopotamian laws known as Hammurabi 's Code. Hammurabi 's Code contained laws pertaining to trade, marriage, property, crime, social class, and more (Judge and Langdon, 25). So much can be learned about early societies through this famous artifact. Although these laws may have been accepted by the Babylonian citizens at the time, it is now clear to see that the code was extremely unjust. Hammurabi 's Code uncovers the social
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into successful civilizations. One civilization the Egyptians developed was in the Nile River valley. Based off the "Mesopotamia and Egypt DBQ" packet, "Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization in many areas including religion, architecture, transportation, and trade. Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations that developed a form of government as well as organized people in political states." Based on the documents, Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful and advanced civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily.
All three societies had some form of belief in higher powers such as gods and other polytheistic beliefs. Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt had more duties involving their beliefs compared to Greece because both of those societies had ways of taking care of their religious sites such as feeding the gods daily or cleaning the temple area daily whereas there was not a huge emphasis on daily chores for Greece. Each society had originated around an ecologically useful area. Greece had a better advantage when compared to Egypt and Mesopotamia because both were prone to flooding. The Nile in Egypt constantly overflowed or ran dry causing harm to those who lived off of the river. The laws of each society were very male centered. Men were dominant over women in each society, but women in Egypt and Greece had more rights than those of Mesopotamia. Egyptian women could sue and file for divorce while Greek women could get jobs and retain property. The men gained more repercussions in Greece seeing as how rape and adultery would initiate a fine in Athens and not joining the army in Sparta would make you lose citizenship and the right to marry. Each society was also governed in some way making them similar, but the way they were governed makes them different. Mesopotamia was ruled by whoever conquered them, Egypt was ruled by a king, and Greece also had a king or an elected official. Each society did have slaves in some way, along with lower class. Egypt and Greece gave the middle lower class the option to become somewhat of a higher class through education and money. Power was determined mainly by wealth, birth, and income in the societies in some shape or form. Military was more of an important focus in Egypt and Greece than in Mesopotamia. The family structure of each civilization is still male centered and the male typically controls the family. Marriage and divorce is common in all
In Babylon the law was harsher and stricter these laws where very dark but it gave us the idea of a justice system but their punishment wasn’t something to be desired usually the people found guilty were sentenced to the removal of a tongue, breast, hands, eye, or ear (history.com). as to the code of Assura there laws where mostly against women though men could be tried but untimely it was a man’s word over a women and the man’s word was more believable than a woman but here in these set a laws it states the consequences of cheating on your husband or sleeping with another
A consistent characteristic among the first civilizations was social stratification. In most of the first civilizations, social hierarchies included kings, the elites, the working class, and slaves. Social stratification was evident in the Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies based off of the documents from the Babylonian Empire, The Law Code of Hammurabi, and the Egyptian student text, Be a Scribe. In the document The Law Code of Hammurabi, soldiers, farmers, salves, and other jobs are mentioned (96-97). In the document Be a Scribe, farmers, cobblers, soldiers, and various other jobs are mentioned (100-101). It is significant that these jobs are mentioned in both documents because it illustrates the similarities in these civilization’s social hierarchies. But, the similarities in their social structures do not end there. Special treatment based off of social standing was a consistent factor in both of these civilizations as well. This is clearly exemplified in Mesopotamia with the harshness of punishments for crimes being dependent on class (97). In Egypt, evidence of special treatment based off of social stratification is insinuated in the document Be a Scribe. This document delves into the negatives of having low class jobs and encourages people to become educated to grow in class rank (101). Despite these similarities, these two civilizations still held vastly different values and
Approximately 5500 years ago four of the worlds' most prestigious ancient river civilizations had emerged. Our world has been left in astonishment and awe wondering how these civilizations were developed. Egypt and Mesopotamia were the first ancient river civilizations to create cities and their own ways of living. Society, geography, and religion played an enormous role in the development of the ancient cities. Although there is evidence of early Sumerian contact with the Egyptians, Egypt's civilization was largely self-generated and its history and cultural patterns differed from Mesopotamia.
After the Commercial Law came the Penal Law. This had to do with the issue of crime. The laws were unusually harsh do to their ineducation. Despite this the wealthy class usually enjoyed more freedom from the law than the lower classes. There was no jury in the court back in the times of Babylon. The code of Hammurabi was like an eye for an eye punishment. If you killed someone than you would be killed.
Millions of years ago the procreant low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris was probably the home of some animal life, but no great civilizations. However, things change over time, and just a few thousand years ago the same fertile low lands in the river basins of Euphrates and Tigris became the home of a very rich and complex society. This first high society of man was located in what some still call "Mesopotamia". The word "Mesopotamia" is in origin a Greek name meaning "land between the rivers." The name is used for the area watered by the Euphrates and Tigris and its tributaries, roughly comprising modern Iraq and part of Syria. South of modern Bagdad, this alluvial plain was called the land of Sumer and Akkad. Sumer is the most southern part, while the land of Akkad is the area around modern Bagdad, where the Euphrates and Tigris are closest to each other. This first high, Mesopotamian society arose as a combined result of various historical, institutional, and religious factors. The reality of these factors occurring at a specific place within the fabric of space / time indeed established the basis for this first high civilization. Items like irrigation, topography, and bronze-age technical innovations played a big part along with the advent of writing and the practice of social conditioning (through the use of organized religion) in this relatively early achievement of man.
Slaves had no control over their own destiny and were often sold several times throughout their life. This severe...
The act of slavery was widespread around the globe, seen in places like: the Sumerian society; Greece; the central Nigerian Society, Nupe; and of the course, the United States (Ember). Although slavery was common in all of these places, what differed is how the slaves were obtained and maintained. One of the earliest documented history of slavery dates back to 3000 B.C. in the Sumerian society (Ember). Since this society was very complex, slaves were common in Sumer. The slaves were often captives brought back from war. This way of ...
A civilization is the starting point of a society. Civilizations have existed for millions of years and are the basic unit of structure for a society. Civilizations were the base of great societies such as Egypt and Rome. If not for civilizations these societies would not have flourished or even existed.