Ancient Mesopotamia
L.E.G.S. PowerPoint
Presentation
By Timothy Callery
Ancient Mesopotamia: Laws,
Empire, Government, and Society
Essential Question: In order to maintain order
and stability, how have past civilizations arranged
different groups and their responsibilities (society),
organized power to control their populations
(government and law), and extended power over
other territories (empire)?
Mesopotamian Law and
Government
The law and government of Mesopotamia developed over time; from small farming communities
along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers ruled by one militia leader, to powerful city-states ruled by powerful kings.
When the Neolithic Era started, and the ice had melted away up north, it left the region of the western middle
east as a fertile area. This area was called the Fertile Crescent. Many towns and farming communities developed
in this area in about 6000 B.C. They developed into larger towns and cities in around 3000 B.C., such as Ur
and Uruk. These were the first cities of Mesopotamia that developed in Sumer, or southern Mesopotamia.
These cities were ruled by one king, or as we know them, tyrants. The more advanced governments of the
Mesopotamian cities developed when a system of writing in Mesopotamia, called cuneiform. This was used to
keep statistics, numbers, and record documents. Official writers to the government and farmers called scribes
were the ones who read and wrote. When more city-states appeared in Mesopotamia like: Babylon, Nineveh,
Eridu, Kish, Nippur, and many more, there started to be more wars, which required more stable law and
government in the growing cities. All of these cities of Mesopotamia were ruled by one absolute king.
One city, more than any other, distinguished itself in making a stable, documented law system than
any other. It was the city of Babylon, in its second era, under King Hammurabi. He made a large code of laws
written on a clay tablet. These laws were very blunt and harsh. For example, “Law 3: If anyone brings a charge
of a crime to the elders [judges], and does not prove what he has charged he shall, if it is a capital offense
[punishable by the death penalty] that is charged, be put to death. Law 7: If a “purchaser” does not bring the
merchant and witnesses before whom he bought the article, and its owner brings witnesses who identify it, then
the “purchaser” is a thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the stolen article. Law 15: If anyone
takes a male or female slave of the [king’s] court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city
gates, he shall be put to death. Law 21: If anyone breaks into a house to steal, he shall be put to death there and
be buried there. This code of laws was the first one ever made in history!
The Hammurabi’s Code Tablet:
This tablet, with 301 laws, was the first code of
laws ever developed in the history of the world.
Though harsh, they were very effective in
Babylonian society. King Hammurabi, ruler of
Babylonia, ruled a large empire during his reign
over Babylon. This was one of the greatest
empires of Babylon. It formed in Babylon’s
second major era. It was broken up in the end
of Hammurabi’s reign when the Assyrians,
barbaric mountain tribes, and the Hittites closed
in on the empire and destroyed it. This was the
end of the first Babylonian Empire, and the start
of Assyrian rule over the region.
Mesopotamia Website
Mesopotamian Society
The society of Mesopotamia developed over the course of Mesopotamian history, from farming
communities, to booming cities with specialized labor, governments, laws, and more advancements. When the
society of Mesopotamia began, the world was entering a new age after the ice age, called the bronze age, in
which advancements of society and many other areas of interest advanced in a giant leap from uncivilized, to
civilized. When the towns of Mesopotamia developed along the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates, they depended
on their small populations to farm for food and care for domesticated livestock. Then, when the towns started
to expand, the towns grew into cities and needed more trade goods and tools to help boost the economy. This
rushed in the golden era of the cities of Mesopotamia, when artisans, craftsmen, tradesmen, and people who
specialized in other thing flocked the streets, selling their goods. Sometimes they formed a caravan and went to
other cities to sell or trade their goods. Everybody had a specialized job in Mesopotamia. Some were architects
and constructers [not slaves] who made large engineering and construction projects possible. Others, indeed
most people were specific artisans or craftsmen who specialized in certain areas such as: stone working, potterymaking, jewelry makers, silversmiths, blacksmiths, weapons makers, weavers, garment makers, goldsmiths,
bronze workers, stone cutters, wood cutters, and many, many more!!!!
In Mesopotamian society there were different “brackets”, you could say, or social groups and levels
of the population of each city. The obviously highest one was the royalty of the city. This level included the
King, a queen and princes and princesses [if the king is married], and maybe high governors of outside states
that were related to the king. The second highest level is the nobility of wealthiest citizens who knew the king
and the royal family. These people owned the larger houses inside the city, and usually owned farms and
supported craftsmen. The third highest bracket was the standard citizens who were artisans, craftsmen,
tradesmen, and the standard jobs. These citizens had to obey and respect the nobility and the king, who ruled
over all. This was the largest group of people. Lastly, the final and lowest level was a “wee bit” smaller than the
standard population level. This level was occupied by the slaves who were either captured foreigners, criminals,
or the poorest people who owned nothing. Those are the Mesopotamian social levels or “brackets”.
An Artist’s Depiction of a Sumerian City
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/peo
ple-places-kids/iraq-mesopotamia-kids/
Mesopotamian Empire
One of the areas that Mesopotamia showed its might in was its quench for blood, power, land, and an empire.
Each of the Mesopotamian city-states had its own armed fighting force. Some were lethal, killing machines that could conquer a
city in a quick two days, while others were more equipped for defense of their beloved homeland city. These armies were led
by their king, or a lead general appointed by the king. These armies started to innovate the way that war was waged across the
ancient world. With new inventions, ideas, and processes, like mathematics and the wheel, new battle weapons started to
emerge. Some were early forms of the catapult, and others were battle chariots that were used widely across the ancient world
after Ancient Mesopotamia came up with them.
One of the first empires of Mesopotamia was the Sumerian Empire. It was formed when Sargon united the citystates of Mesopotamia in the south near the delta of the two rivers. This empire expanded greatly and stretched over almost the
whole length of the Mesopotamia Region. He built a new capital called Akkad. His empire stretched over 900 miles, or the
distance between Los Angeles, CA, to Portland, Oregon [Our World]. After Sargon’s death, his empire broke up and the citystates went back to their individual governments. The next great empire after this was Hammurabi’s Babylonian Empire
[described in slide 4].
After the Assyrians took control of the Mesopotamian region and stationed their capital at Nineveh, the people of
Mesopotamia started to rebel. The most powerful city to rebel was Babylon again. When Nebuchadnezzar came into power, he
destroyed the Assyrians through swift military campaigns that decimated the Assyrian Empire. In his conquest, he made an
empire that stretched over most of the middle east, excluding anywhere east of the western Iranian Mountains, including Egypt,
the eastern half of Turkey, and Northern Saudi Arabia. His ruthlessness can be shown in his rule and conquest over Israel and
Jerusalem. When he conquered it, he stationed a military governor and a small garrison to control the city, but they were
quickly overthrown. When they were, he sent out a whole army to pillage, burn, and destroy the city including the Jewish
temple, which instilled great sorrow in the people of Jerusalem which can be shown in many psalms and stories of the old
testament in the bible. After this empire rose to power, it was destroyed by the Persians under the rule of Belshazzar. The
Persian Empire would rule over this region of the middle east until Alexander the Great destroyed the Persians in his military
campaigns.