Document A: Hammurabi’s Code—Religion ​(Modified)

The following selection is from the introduction of Hammurabi’s Code. As

you read, pay attention to the religion of Babylonia. What did people
believe in? Who were their gods?

People believed in many gods which had different roles for different
aspects of life. Some of the names of the Babylonian gods were Anu, Bel,
Marduk, and Ea.

When Anu the ​Sublime ​. . . and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who
decreed ​the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of
Ea, God of righteousness, power over earthly man, and made him great .
. . they called Babylon by his celebrated name, made it great on earth,
and founded an everlasting kingdom in it. Then Anu and Bel called by
name me, Hammurabi, the ​exalted ​prince, who feared God, to bring
about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the
evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should
rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land,
to further the well-being of mankind.

Source​: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE.

Vocabulary
sublime​: greatest
decreed​: ordered
exalted​: highly thought of, grand

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Document B: Hammurabi’s Code—Economy

The following selections from Hammurabi’s Code discuss the economy in

Babylonia. As you read, pay attention to what was important to Babylonians
as they tried to make a living.
Field work and farming was essential to Babylonian civilization. Lots of
economy laws were based around the idea of farming and having grains as
a type of currency.

42. If any one take over a field to ​till ​it, and obtain no harvest from it, it must
be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just
as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field.

43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie ​fallow​, he shall give grain like his
neighbor's to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he
must plow and sow and return to its owner.

53. 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 in whose dam the
break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn
which he has caused to be ruined.

54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall
be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded.

59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden, ​fell ​a tree
in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money.

Source​: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE.

Vocabulary
till​: farm, work
fallow​: land with no seeds planted
fell​: cause to fall

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Document C: Hammurabi’s Code—Society

The following selections from Hammurabi’s Code discuss rules for

Babylonian society. As you read, pay attention to how society was
structured. Was everyone treated equally?

Not everyone was treated equally. There were different laws for
different social classes. People at the highest classes were treated
more reasonably than those at a lower class than them.

117. If any one fails to pay a debt, and sells himself, his wife, his
son, or daughter for money or give them away for forced labor:
they shall work for three years in the house of the man who
bought them and in the fourth year they shall be set free.

138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no
children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the
dowry ​which she brought from her father's house, and let her go.

141. If a man's wife … wishes to leave it: if her husband offer her release,
she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her
husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall
remain as servant in her husband's house.

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's
slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall
receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.

203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal
rank, he shall pay one gold mina.

Source​: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE.

Vocabulary
dowry​: money or property that a wife’s family gives to her husband
when they marry

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Guiding Questions
Central Historical Question:
What can we learn about Babylonia from Hammurabi’s Code?

Document A: Religion

1. According to this document, where did Hammurabi get his power as king?
 Hammurabi got his power as king from the gods Anu and Bel who supposedly called
on him to be king to bring back righteousness to Babylonia.

2. Monotheistic or Polytheistic?
a. According to this document, was Babylonia a monotheistic society (belief
in one god) or a polytheistic society (belief in many gods)?
Babylonia was a poltheistic society as they had many gods which they
believe in all with different purposes.

b. How do you know this from Hammurabi’s Code?

The header of Hammurabi’s codes states a few of the gods that Babylonia
believes in such as Anu, Bel, Marduk, and Ea.

3. According to this document, what is the goal of Hammurabi’s Code?

The goal of Hammurabi’s Code is to bring righteousness back into the land by not harming
the weak and getting rid of evil.

Document B: Economy

1. Working the fields: Summarize laws 42-43 in your own words.

Laws 42-43 state that if you do not work on your field or farm it as promised, you
must pay the owner back as compensation whether it be in land or in monetary form
(such as grains).

2. The dams: Summarize laws 53-54 in your own words.

Law 53-54 states that if you do not properly take care of your property and it causes
damage, then compensation will provided to those it has affected wether it is selling
the property for money or dividing the property amongst themselves.

3. Type of Economy
a. According to this document, do you think most people in Babylonia made
money in cities or in the country?
Most people made their money from farming or taking care of their crops
such as grains and corn.

b. How do you know this from Hammurabi’s Code?

 Most of the codes in the economy section are based on farming properly and
no other jobs are mentioned within that section of code. 

Document C: Society

1. Equality
a. Code 196: What is the punishment for putting out the eye of “another
man”?
If a man takes out the eye of another man, that man who has committed
that crime shall have his eye taken out.

b. How might code 196 be seen as an attempt to promote “equality”?

Code 196 was an attempt to provide equality because this punishment
would be seen as equal and fair treatment to the one who has
committed the crime. The punishment of taking an eye out of the
criminal is the same thing as the crime that was committed.

c. Code 199 describes a different punishment for putting out the eye of
an enslaved person. What might this suggest about equality in
Babylonia?
The difference between 196 and 199 is that if a slave’s eye was taken
out, then the criminal should only pay half the price. This suggests
that not everything was equal in Babylonia in terms of social classes
as people with lower social classes were treated worse than people
who were in higher classes.

d. Find two other passages that provide evidence of inequality in

Hammurabi’s Code. (Be sure to cite the number of the code.)

i. Evidence 1: ​“​202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank
than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.”

ii. Evidence 2: “​141. If a man's wife … wishes to leave it: if her husband
offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as
a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he
take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband's house.”

2. What do codes 117, 138, & 141 suggest about the status of women in Babylonian
society?

Codes 117, 138, & 141 suggest that the women of Babylonia were treated as a lower
social status than men. That’s because women received unequal treatment to men in
terms of (at least) marriage and divorce. For example, women do not get parting gifts for
leaving a marriage while men do if it was their choice to leave
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Summary

What are some of the limitations of Hammurabi’s Code as evidence of life in Babylonia?

The limitations of Hammurabi’s code was that not everyone was treated equally in
Babylonian society. If you were in a lower social class or were a woman, then you got
treated with worse punishments than some people in higher classes who got away with
their crimes.

What other sources might help us to better understand life in Babylonia?

We could look at ancient writing and text that scribes left behind in Babylonia as they
were trained to write down things such as religious texts.

Use evidence from the historical documents you read to answer the central
historical question by completing the sentences below:

What can we learn about Babylonia from Hammurabi’s Code?

Historians can learn a lot about Babylonia from Hammurabi’s Code. According to the
Code, Babylonian religion was ​polytheistic.

According to the Code, the Babylonian economy was based on ​farming.

According to the Code, Babylonian society was structured around ​social classes and
gender roles.