Law and the Family in Ancient Mesopotamia

The Code of Hammurabi, 1800 BCE

Thinking in Space: The Origins of Western Civilization

in Ancient Mesopotamia

Thinking in Time: A Timeline

Timeline

Timeline

Prehistory

Timeline

Ancient Civilization

Code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi Stele

Code of Hammurabi

• Law of Babylonian Empire

• Promulgated by Hammurabi in 1800 BCE

• 282 Laws, a Prologue and Epilogue

• The bas relief shows the sun god giving Hammurabi a staff and a ring symbolizing his authority to enforce the law.

Laws on Family, Sexual and Property Relations

• Marriage and family: 129, 134-142, 142, 168-69.

• Assault: 195-212

• “Consumer Protection:” 215-18, 229-33.

• Debt Slavery:117.

You can assume….

• That if the situation is described it “exists” in some sense.

• That if a law is passed, it points to a problem in the society. There is no need for laws punishing theft if no one steals.

• That the law and the creation stories aim to be comprehensive answers to questions for people in society.

Social Organization in Ancient Society

• Nobility or elite: Wealthy, Learned or Powerful (militarily, economically, etc.)

• Commoner (free): Ordinary people with resources: land or a trade.

• Slave: Individual “owned” by someone else (but not necessarily a permanent status).

How does one become a slave?

• Capture in war

• Punishment for a crime

• Sale by family

• Self sale for debt or debt bondage

• A descendant of a slave

Characteristics of a Slave’s Situation

• Owes labor to master, generally for life

• Alienated from claims of birth

• No property rights, lineage, or inheritance rights

• No civil rights

• ? Religious rights?

• No political rights

Propositions on Family Organization

• Wealthier households are larger than poorer households

• Men may have more than one wife; wives are ranked according to first wife, second wife, and so forth. Most men cannot afford a second wife.

• Wives may have only one husband and must be faithful to him.

Propositions, cont.

• Rules of divorce and remarriage vary.– Men generally remarry if spouse dies or is infertile– Terms of widowhood and remarriage vary.

• Women are “classed” through their relationships to men as wives, legitimate daughters, concubines, or slaves.

• Household members are responsible (and liable) for the actions of other members.

Propositions about Legal Relationships

• Law is logical and coherent, characterized by generalized rules of behavior.

• The state promulgates and enforces the law.

• Ancient law does not display a strong distinction between civil and criminal violations.

• Violations against more powerful people are punished more severely than those against less powerful people.

Propositions, cont.

• The punishment for the crime must fit the crime: lex talionis

• Institutions of enforcement are weak compared with modern legal systems.

Terms• Lex Talionis: an “eye for an eye” legal system

• Concubine: a second wife

• Dowry: the resources the bride’s family gives to the groom’s family

• Brideprice: the resources the groom’s family gives to the bride’s family

• Levirate: practice of a widow marrying her deceased husband’s brother (e.g., her brother-in-law)

Terms, cont.

• Polygamy: practice of men having more than one wife

• Monogamy: practice of men having one wife

• Homogamy: practice of marrying within one’s social group

• Exogamy: practice of marrying non kin

• Endogamy: practice of marrying kin

• Incest: practice of marrying or having sexual relations with a “close” relative

Refresher: The Concept of “Family”

• Simplest meaning: 2 or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption

• Other aspects:– lineage, kindred or tribe: a “family reunion”– coresidential primary descent group– all household members (including employees.

servants or slaves)

Refresher: Concept of a “Household”

• One or more persons living in a “housing unit” that constitutes a “separate living quarters”