Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian legal systems both had the goal of maintaining what is right and just in the world, but the methods they used were vastly different these were the idea of ma’at and the code of Hammurabi respectively.
Middle kingdom Egypt was very similar to ancient Mesopotamia in the fact that they both polytheistic agrarian societies that developed near rivers in north Africa and the middle east respectively both had strict social hierarchies with four levels the first was peasants who were mainly subsistence tenant farmers the second was the merchants and warriors the third was the bureaucrats and priests and the final was the king their religious and social ideals valued keeping these positions this is demonstrated in the
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it is not a coherent code of laws but rather a set of decisions and equity rulings that Hammurabi made in response to specific cases and perceived injustices it covers a wide range of topics from the administration of justice to consumer protection its purpose was to keep order in the kingdom during a period of unification and to establish “right and justice ... in the land for the good of the people”it appears to be a document that is biased towards the people who are well off in society because in order to use it you would have to be able to read the stele (stone pillar upon which the code was written) and most peasants in ancient Mesopotamia could neither read nor write. This document does give women some rights in the empire for instance if a husband wants to divorce his wife after she has born him children she is given back her dowry and allowed to use his land to raise the children until they come of age then she takes the sons share and is free to marry the husband of her heart this shows that women were not entirely without protection during
Hammurabi’s Code and the US Constitution contrast because they have different punishments for the same crimes, they get their power from different sources, and because men, women and slaves are treated differently. Hammurabi's Code and the US Constitution contrast because they have different punishments for the same crimes. For example, petty (low value) theft in the US can result in charges from $500 to $1000, whereas it resulted in death according to Hammurabi’s Code. Another transgression that has very different punishments is abducting “stealing” a minor. In America, the punishment is serving a term in prison for up to five years.
The laws gave men more freedom over their lives, unlike women. Lastly, if a woman killed another woman, her daughter would be put to death! However, if a man killed another man, he would be killed. The person who killed someone should have been put to death, because the kids were innocent. Overall, women were considered their “husband’s property,” and they were not considered a true wife until they had kids. The Hammurabi Code allowed more freedom for men.
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 Hammurabi Code and Mosaic Law were used to lead their people during two different era. They were similarities and differences, between the two. For example, they were both discovered by their leaders in similar ways, but differed in their approach to justice and morality. Hammurabi Code respects women, but has distinct social class and penalties based on the class you belonged to, while the Mosaic Law had no distinction between people and gave everybody even fairness.
The form of the Code of Hammurabi is significant in the way that it is written. The simple language used to write the Code allowed the average member of Babylonian society to understand the expectations placed on them. Each of 282 laws was written separately with specific examples of indiscretions that were illegal, and the precise form of punishment that would occur. The Code also sets guidelines for the fees that were paid to doctors, veterinarians, shipbuilders, ferryboat operators, and to the owners of rented livestock.
Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and Egypt were both polytheistic. Their religions were polytheistic because Mesopotamians and Egyptians could not explain many things in that occurred in their lives. Therefore, they assumed that there are different gods for everything. This means that the religion had many gods for different things. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, priests were part of the upper class and were very important in the daily lives of civilians. Priests were part of the upper class because they were thought to have the ability to communicate with the gods. In Mesopotamia, the priests held the highest authority in the religious structure. Egyptian priests were not as powerful in government as Mesopotamian priests were, but they still had significant power. Egypt’s highest religious and military leader was encapsulated in the position of pharaoh. The pharaoh was at the top of all social classes and was considered to be a god-like figure.
As for Egypt the lawgivers were the gods, ruling through the pharaoh. In Egypt the pharaohs were seen as living gods therefore the Egyptians worshipped their pharaohs as gods. In both civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt religion was implanted in the social and personal life of the people. Which they also build temples that they worshipped. Religious laws and duties were crucial to the day-to-day life of the people to their social spot. The Egyptians were obsessed with the idea of afterlife as opposed to Mesopotamians. The Egyptians believed in resurrection of the dead were principal characteristics of religious. They also buried their pharaohs in their own temples including mummifying their dead bodies for example like the Giza Valley Temple the second largest where the entrance and bodies were hidden. Another difference between the Mesopotamia and Egypt was their writing style for example one of the forms Mesopotamia used was cuneiform considering it was worlds first written language, which primarily means, “Wedge shaped”. The Egyptians could have adopted the Mesopotamian alphabet but instead they created hieroglyphic, which were based on pictured symbols that would tell a
The Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies are two of the oldest civilizations in the history of the world. The Egyptian and Mesopotamian political, social, and cultural parts of their lives developed differently, but there is a similar basis between the two. Although they had similar political systems in that they both were ruled by kings, but the way they viewed their kings differed. Both civilizations constructed their social classes similarly in that they had kings at the top, followed by other officials and merchants, and at the bottom the slaves and peasants. They both had their own form of writing; Mesopotamia had cuneiform, and Egypt had hieroglyphics and cursive script, respectively. Even though they are alike they have enough contrast
While the leaders of old Mesopotamia and Egypt both made political frameworks that permitted them to practice aggregate control over their subjects, the association of these frameworks was entirely unexpected. Old Mesopotamia was made out of firmly sorted out autonomous city-expresses that were ruled by rulers who asserted awesome power, while Antiquated Egypt was a united and politically state ruled by a lord why should considered be a living god. Both Mesopotamian and Egyptian rulers controlled tremendous measures of area.
States are political units defined by distinct territorial boundaries and characterized by a strong social complexity, population density and inequality. Sovereigns of the ancient world were able to rule and maintain their position with their conquered states by following all four social powers; economic, ideology (religion), military and political powers. A ruler must use each social power to maintain their status and their right to rule. Without having balanced power the ruled state will eventually diffuse and breakoff into new territories and elect new leaders who will lead them with a balanced and fixed system.
The development of morality and justice in Mesopotamia, India, and China differed depending on whether the civilization was strongly religious and if they had a supreme ruler. Both Mesopotamia and China had a distinct supreme ruler, while India and Mesopotamia were very religious. Mesopotamia’s Code of Hammurabi is a collection of rulings made by the king (The Judgments of Hammurabi, 13), India’s Laws of Manu was anonymously put together and claimed to be the work of Manu (The Laws of Manu, 139), and The Analects were a collection of sayings put together by Confucius’ pupils. All three civilizations were similar in that they had defined social classes that determined privileges, but each one differed because they had different purposes. Mesopotamia’s
No doubt the concept “an eye for an eye” was a big part of the Code of Hammurabi. Although, when it came to women, this principle does not apply equally as it did with men of the Babylonian civilization. For example, if a man were to practice adultery while he was married, he would get a very minor punishment for whatever good reason he came up with. If a woman were to practice adultery on her husband, she and the other man she was having an affair with were both thrown into a river while being tied up to one another. Basically women were constantly addressed as a piece of property just as slaves were treated. Hammurabi’s Code demonstrated how the rights of women individually were not acknowledged as men’s rights were taken. King Hammurabi was the sixth Babylonian king and he gave all of the power to the men in the civilization. It can be proven that a woman, in Hammurabi time didn’t have as many rights, even right to defend herself. There are three major issues that were taken place during the Babylonian civilization. The first issue, was about a woman’s family wealth being controlled by her husband or her father. The second issue was about women’s sexuality being sacrificed to ensure legitimacy. The last issue talked about a woman needing society’s help if she was divorced. The Hammurabi Code describes all of women’s rights and
Ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Egypt have exhibited common characteristics as well as unique features that apply to one or the other. Multiple similarities between both societies would be the amount of trading that was done in addition to the practice of agriculture and the raising of livestock. Egypt and Mesopotamia had “depended on their rivers to sustain a productive agriculture” (pg.72 Strayer). The rivers had provided fertile soil that supported the people and the livestock for both lands. Trading had also been a large part of the culture that can be found in the Mesopotamia and Egyptian cultures. These are some of the similarities that can be found in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
According to the modern researchers, the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations likely seem very similar. They had cities, a relatively high standard of living, music, arts , religion, writing, and literature.They both developed at the same time . However, they differed in important and some different ways, especially in terms of culture, politics, religion, art and architecture. Also, they have the geography which is their located differently.
In the years when they had just started, there were two ‘kingdoms’ that worked like two separate and different countries. Each had their own ruler and their own religion and beliefs and ways of doing things. When the two kingdoms were united, they became a lot more powerful and do the same things more. Over the years they developed a system of what is known and called a ‘hierarchy’. This was a class system and each and every person living in Ancient Egypt knew where they were in the system and had specific and assigned rights of that class. At the top of this structure was the Pharaoh and their gods. The last of these may be taken for granted, but is just as essential in life as a social variable. A child born as the son of the king or high official would have higher and different expectations of life to those of the daughter of a farmer, or the son of a barber. Throughout history, Egyptian society is a ranked society, with a ruling of uncertain size at the top, and the common people and labourers at the bottom. The social differences between the different groups are shown in many different ways but they are always clear and visible, and important for the social identification of the individual. Most written and pictorial sources give the point of view of the wealthier classes, while we depend largely on archaeology for supplementing this for the lower