Government in Ancient Mesopotamia

1. Government in Ancient Mesopotamia By Lauren Feeley & Angel Nieves

2. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws In the code of Hammurabi’s Laws, they are very strict about their laws on water supply. In Law 55, if the farmer was too lazy to turn off the water usage or did not care where it went, & it flooded the neighbors field, they had to repay the neighbor with the corn that they grew. In Law 53, if their dam broke and flooded farmer’s fields you were required to sell the parts of the dam that broke and the money that you make off of that was to be given to the farmer’s field you flooded in order for them to grow their own food and buy it because they cannot grow it anymore. In Law 48, the blame was put on something else, besides humans. In Law 48, if a storm came and blew all the grain and other crops in the air, or they died because lack of water, then by Hammurabi’s Code of Laws, they would not have to pay rent for the entire year.

3. Priorities In Ancient Mesopotamia, people who owned land would be valued more than people who were slaves and did not have land. Farmers were paid much attention because they would deliver food supply to stands where people bought their crops. If you committed a crime, you had to pay the fine. For example, like we learned in Law 55, if you committed the crime of not turning off your water, and having it flood your neighbor’s field, you would have to repay them in corn that you grew and they do not have to pay you, so you lost money in that situation.

4. The Standard of Ur The Standard of Ur is an artifact that was excavated (dug up) from the Royal Cemetery in the Ancient city of Ur (Iraq). This artifact has been in the ground since 2600 B.C. , but was found by British Archeologist, Sir Leonard Wooley in the 1920’s. It is a hollow wooden box with a beautiful mosaic of blue and red stones on the outside. Leonard Wooley thought that it had been carried on a pole, like a sign, which is called a “standard.” Some think it is the sound-box for a musical instrument. No one knows for sure. The Standard of Ur has two main panels, which have been named “War” and “Peace.”

5. The Jobs of Ancient Mesopotamia In Ancient Mesopotamia, there were farmers, shepherds, herders, scribes, slaves, and a king. The responsibility that a farmer has was to milk the cattle, sheep and the goats. The responsibility of a shepherd was to take the wool from the sheep. The responsibility that a herder had was to protect the sheep, goats and cows from lions. The responsibility that a scribe had was to record laws, legends and songs. The responsibility that slaves had was to be in charge of a household and to be obedient wives.