LEGS

1. LEGS Ancient Mesopotamia By Davi Bendavid

2. Law There is really only one thing that shows law in Mesopotamia. This is the Code of Hammurabi. In 190, an archaeologist fount a six-foot pillar with a picture of Hammurabi and 200 of his laws carved into it. Hammurabi was a famous king of Babylon, and the Babylonian empire. Copies of Hammurabi’s laws were found throughout the Babylonian empire. This would suggest that Hammurabi expected the people in his empire to follow his laws. There were laws for everything—from getting a divorce to clumsy barbers.

3. Empire Many empires have ruled and united the city-states of Sumer. An empire is a group of lands and peoples ruled by one government. The first great empire in history was ruled by Sargon, a famous king of the city state of Kish. First Sargon united the independent city-states of Sumer. Then Sargon extended his rule in modern day Syria, to the north and west of Mesopotamia. Sargon then built a new capital city called Akkad and ruled there for about 56 years. The empire was called the Dynasty of Akkad. Soon, other city-states began to grow. In the south a king of Babylon, named Hammurabi began to reunite the city-states of Sumer. By 1750 B.C.E Hammurabi controlled all of Mesopotamia. Since the empire’s capital was Babylon, the Empire was called Babylonia. At the same time as the Babylonian empire in the south, in the north two city-states were growing. They were Nineveh and Ashur. Soon Ashur broke free from the Babylonian empire. It created a very large empire called Assyria that ranged from Egypt to the Persian Gulf to modern day Turkey.

4. Government Most of Mesopotamian government is centered on the term city-state, meaning a self-governing city that also governs nearby villages. The king would rule his city state from his palace, which could be seen from almost every point in the city. The king was in charge of the courts, operated the army, and planned irrigation canals and other needed projects. It was the king’s job to keep the entire city in order.

5. Society The Mesopotamians had an amazing society. If you were to visit Ancient Mesopotamia, you would see people doing many different things, but mainly you would see farmers. The farmers grew and raised domesticated plants and animals. Others dig irrigation canals to bring water from the Tigris River, the Euphrates, and other water sources to artificial lakes. The farmers then can gather water to water their plants from the artificial lakes, and the canals. Shepherds herd and care for sheep and goats raised for their meat and milk. Scribes were trained in reading writing and mathematics. The city-states were surrounded by walls, so we can infer that craft workers made tools for builders to build the walls with. Some citizens worked in the king’s palace helping the king govern his city-state. Others were soldiers fighting in the army. Still others were employed in the ziggurats, as priests, priestesses, and weavers to weave cloth for as a gift for a god or goddess. Slaves, sold to do dirty work were the lowest social class and even wore a special haircut for identification. Craftworkers and merchants would create goods, sell them, and make a living that way.

6. Sources • Our World Textbook