Law and the Family in Ancient Mesopotamia

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Law and the Family in Ancient Mesopotamia

• The Code of Hammurabi

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Hammurabi Stele
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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.

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Terms

• Lex Talionis
• Concubine
• Dowry and Brideprice
• Levirate
• Polygamy and Monogamy
• Homogamy
• Exogamy and Endogamy
• Incest

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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.

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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)

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Concept of a Household

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

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Social Organization in Ancient Society

• Nobility
• Commoner (free)
• Slave (but not necessarily a permanent status)

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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

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Characteristics of a Slaves Situation

• Owes labor for life
• Alienated from claims of birth
• No property rights, lineage, or inheritance
  rights
• No civil rights
• ? Religious rights?
• No political rights

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Propositions, cont.

• The punishment for the crime must fit the crime
  lex talionis
• Institutions of enforcement are weak compared
  with modern legal systems.