Throughout Hammurabi's Code, it is made clear that the ancient Near East had a patriarchal system in which laws were needed to be put in place to grant protection to women from abuse. Laws placed restrictions on women's dowries and the manner in which divorce could occur. The state, therefore, recognized that women needed certain legal protections from male authority. Unfortunately, while such legal protections are granted, women are constantly addressed as a piece of property similar to slaves. Therefore, there are a few major issues in Hammurabi's Code that demonstrate how the individual rights of women took a back seat to social order and stratification in the ancient Near East. It was believed that a woman's sexuality should be
Hammurabi’s code was not just because of it’s family laws. In the Epilogue, Hammurabi states “I will protect the weak citizens such as women, children, and slaves (Document B). He goes against that wish in laws 129 and 195. Law 129 states “If a woman is caught with another man, the man and the woman will be tied together and thrown into the water.” Hammurabi is not protecting women with this law. He also doesn’t give the woman and the man she is accused of cheating with a fair trial
In conclusion, Hammurabi’s Law Code was fundamental in elevating females place in society. Previously unprotected by any official laws, women were to some degree, treated as slaves. However, the implementation of Hammurabi’s Code of Laws, granted woman very important protections—if only a few—that greatly benefited the stability of their societal position. To summarize, the law code granted women few, but very monumental rights that consequently elevated their place in society as well as paving the way for future generations to attain further
The Law Code of Hammurabi is a native Babylonian text that served as the basic law code of society. The way of life was of the former Babylonians culture is totally different than what we are used to today. The text gives readers a vision of how ancient societies lived in these times. This law code gave society a diverse arrangement for citizens to follow. The social structure isn’t about wealth, they are judged by different standards (such as trial by ordeal). The husband is the dominant role of the house. The family structure is a patriarchal household and the power of the father is absolute. The Law Code of Hammurabi gives readers a clear thought of how unfair the earlier civilization of Babylonians existed through class structures, gender relations, and family structures.
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). This law will be just because in their time this punishment was fair and people shouldn’t disobey the law if they know the consequences. Law 148 states, “If a man has married a wife and a disease has seized her, if he is determined to marry a second wife, he shall marry her. He shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seized. She shall dwell in the house they have built together, and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.” (Doc C). This was just because he was still married to her so she should have someone to take care of her. Also, Hammurabi states that “the strong might not injure the weak” so he needs to protect and take care of her (Doc B). When people still abided by these rules they were just so these laws were very much
Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:
They did not have the right to divorce their husbands, and almost all women were uneducated. In Mesopotamia, women were also treated very poorly. They were taught to attend to all of their husband’s needs, and could be punished severely if they did not do as their husband said. In Babylonia, during Hammurabi’s rule, there was even a law that stated that if a woman did not obey her husband or was unfaithful to him in any way, he was legally allowed to throw her in the river, ultimately drowning her.
In addition to these laws, Hammurabi’s laws were also gender biased .Laws for women were also unjust, gender biased and based on social classes. Women were not given an individual status according to these laws and also they weren’t allowed to trade and open their own business. Also, they did not have their individual rights. For instance, the law one hundred and twenty eight states that “ If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him”. This law shows that the women were not treated equally and laws were based from the perspective of men and not the women. These laws also shows that how they were unjust to a women and suggest the social condition of them . Another law which states “If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.” This was very wrong as it raised many questions about why only women were required to sacrifice and not men. Also, there was inequality between men and women as only men can choose their wife or perhaps buy her
Hammurabi's code was itjust or unjust? The laws about personal injury and family laws clearly express his laws are unjust.In one of the family laws(DOC.C law 129) the law states “If a married lady is caught [In adultery] wITh another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water.”This is unjust because binding people together and casting them into water means to tie them together and throw them in the water which would possibly drown them and that is a harsh punishment.Killing someone for a mistake is not fair and think about IT what if the husband forgives her and still wants her to be his wife would that be fair to the husband and the wife?Hammurabi’s code was not just to the accused, according to law 195(DOC C). “If a son shall
To begin with, the family laws in Hammurabi’s code are usually pretty unfair in the way they handle family disputes. One example of this is shown in Law 195 when the Code states, “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off”(Document C). This is unfair because it treats the son as lesser than the father since he gets a worse punishment than the original offense. Which shows that this law is an unbalanced punishment for the offense. Another example of an unfair law pertaining to family manners is when law 168 states, “If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge, “‘I cut off my son,’ the judge shall inquire into the son’s past, and, if the son has not committed a grave misdemeanor…, the father shall not disinherit his son”(Document C). This shows how a law can take something that should be decided by an individual, but instead is taken into a decision by the
From prehistory to 600 BCE, gender roles have been influenced by religion in many civilizations. In ancient Mesopotamia, “The Mesopotamian woman's role was strictly defined. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status” (University of Chicago). In Mesopotamia’s polytheistic religion, women were only known as the mother of a son, or the wife to a husband. This was influenced by the religion because the many gods influenced how men and women were treated in Mesopotamia. This is similar to how women were treated in another civilization at the time, Israel. In Israel, women would not own property or get a divorce, and, if involved with extramarital relations, would be put to death. According to the Oxford Research
* The Hammurabi code is definitely patriarchal. Most laws in the “Marriage and the family” section starts with an excerpt of “If a man”. This supposes that it is the males who are considered first. The Hammurabi code supports the patriarchal characteristic of Mesopotamian society. Additionally, a property law states
Men had privileges that woman did not have. Some laws protected the women in some ways, for example, “if a man divorced his wife because she did not bear him a son, he had to provide her with money”. (3) Other laws direct to the thought of women being way less than men. Where women’s word does not matter, only her negative actions and they are equally punished. The Mesopotamian government shows more violent solutions to their crimes and the Egyptians themselves.
Mesopotamian women did not have very much freedom at all. They were expected to follow the laws of Hammurabi’s code, which were not very fair to women. “The Mesopotamian woman's role was strictly defined. She was the daughter of her father or the wife of her husband. Women rarely acted as individuals outside the context of their families. Those who did so were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.” (oi.uchicago.edu, 2010) Mesopotamian women were very limited to what they could or could not do.
Let’s start out talking about the Mesopotamians. The role of a Mesopotamian woman was strictly defined. She was either a daughter to her father or a wife to her husband. Women rarely acted and were treated as individuals outside of their families. If you were allowed to it was because you were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.