The textbook: Von Sivers, Peter; Charles A. Desnoyers & George B. Stow. Patterns of World History. Third edition. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780190697310. Sorry, I can't provide the textbook for you.
Lecture Notes
THEMES
Urbanization and the quest for order. As Neolithic villages increased in size and specialization, conflicts between residents led to the creation of city-states and governments. These institutions administered social and political life not only in urban areas but also in surrounding agricultural regions. Over time, complex legal codes combined with military conquest to encourage cultural unity throughout Mesopotamia.
Trade and growth development of a multi-directional trade network between Mesopotamia, Asia, Africa and Europe encouraged considerable accumulation of land, wealth, and eventually social stratification.
Patriarchy as social norm. Concerns over wealth protection and paternity led to increasing restrictions on women’s social and sexual freedom by the second millennium B.C.E., creating a set of social and cultural norms that spread throughout southwest Asia and the Mediterranean.
Written cultural traditions appear. Commercial and tax records became writing systems, that evolved further into cuneiform, a system of written communication that led to huge expansions in philosophical and scientific knowledge.
Mesopotamian influence. Developments in Mesopotamia were soon adopted by border cultures such as Hebrews and Phoenicians, and were also rapidly adopted by Indo-European migrants from the Eurasian steppes, leading to the development of a Eurasian culture invigorated by cross-cultural interaction.
The Mesopotamians and the
Epic of Gilgamesh
Arguably the single best approach for understanding the Mesopotamian world is to make use
of theEpic of Gilgamesh. Few works in all history have more completely expressed the worldview of a society in the way thatGilgameshdoes for the Mesopotamians. It is a remarkably mature and expressive literary representation of the glory and tragedy of the Mesopotamians’ fight for survival. The nature of the struggles and the eventual failure of Gilgamesh display a sophisticated and heroic, yet understandably somber, view of life and death. The appearance of Utnapishtim allows for an introduction of the subject of mythological motifs such as the flood story, while the differences in these stories tell the students much about the nature of the various societies of the ancient world. (You can access the full text of a 1920s translation through Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org.)
Part I: Answer the following questions.1. What are the main factors that enabled the transition from foraging to farming?
2.What is patriarchy?Provide an example of this social construction from the reading.3.What do the first law codes, such as Hammurabi’s Code, tell us about ancient Sumerian and Babylonian societies?4.Who were the Phoenicians? Which is their contribution to writing systems?5.Who was Gilgamesh? What is the importance of the narrative poem that recounts his adventures?
Part II:
Step 1:After reading chapter 2, watch the animated version of "The Epic of Gilgamesh." In a different window, without closing Blackboard, copy and paste this web address:https://youtu.be/2pGhEu9elnA
Step 2:After completing the tasks the, write a 200-300 word response answering one of the following questions.
1. What does the Epic of Gilgamesh tell us about Mesopotamian culture?
2. What does it implies about gender roles?
3. How arereligious beliefs depicted? Check pages 47 & 48 for some insight.
4. Does anything in this story sounds familiar? yes or no. Why?
Use a word processor (like Microsoft Word) to write your report. Make sure toproperly citeany research used.
Part III:Step 1: Read chapter 2 in the textbook particularly the patterns up close section about “Babylonian Law Codes” pgs. 36 & 37. Then, read the primary source source below “Hammurabi’s Code” and answer the following questions.
1. What do these laws tell us about class divisions or social distinctions in Babylonian society?
2. What can we learn from these laws about the roles of women and men?
3. Which laws or punishments seem unusual today? What does that difference suggest to you about ancient Babylon compared to modern society?
Step 2: Use two appropriate secondary sources to research the Babylonian Empire and its government. One of these sources can be the textbook. The second should come from the library's databases.
Step 3: Write a 300-400 words essay summarizing your research.
Use a word processor (like Microsoft Word) to write your report. Make sure to properly cite any outside source used in your research.
Step 4: Save and post your report.
Once you have completed the assignment, save a copy for yourself in an easily accessible place
Hammurabi’s Code
King Hammurabi of Babylon conquered the entire area of Mesopotamia between 1793 BCE and 1750 BCE. His law code provides us with a rare insight into the daily life of ancient urban society.
Law codes give us an idea of a people’s sense of justice and notions of proper punishments. This selection includes only parts of Hammurabi’s code, so we cannot conclude that if something is not mentioned here it was not a matter of legal concern. We can, however deduce much about Babylonian society from the laws mentioned in this code.
Theft
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.
8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ox, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefore; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community, and . . . on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the goods stolen.
Family
127. If any one "point the finger" (slander) at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked. (by cutting the skin, or perhaps hair.)
128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
129. If a man's wife be surprised (in flagrante delicto) with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.
130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless.
131. If a man bring a charge against one's wife, but she is not surprised with another man, she must take an oath and then may return to her house.
149. If this woman does not wish to remain in her husband's house, then he shall compensate her for the dowry that she brought with her from her father's house, and she may go.153. If the wife of one man on account of another man has their mates (her husband and the other man's wife) murdered, both of them shall be impaled.
Assault
195. If a son strike his father, his hands shall be cut off.
196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.[An eye for an eye]
197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
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.
200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [ A tooth for a tooth ]
201. If he knock out the teeth of a plebeian, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.