Hammurabi’s Law Code
One of the ancient Babylonian kings was named Hammurabi. Hammurabi was tired of people changing
the laws whenever they wanted an advantage. So Hammurabi did something no one before him had ever
done. He had all the laws written down on clay tablets. He did this so that everyone could know what the
law was and no one, not poor man or noble, would be able to say that that wasn't the law.
The first great king of Babylon was King Hammurabi. He conquered all of Mesopotamia and established
the first Babylonian Empire. Hammurabi also established a set of laws that is today called the Code of
Hammurabi.
How do we know about the Code of Hammurabi?
The Code of Hammurabi was written down on clay tablets and etched into stone. It is one of the oldest
recorded codes of laws in the world. One of the best surviving examples of the code is written on the
"diorite stele".
The top of the diorite stele
The Code of Law
The actual code of law was divided up into groupings. Many of the laws that had to do with one subject
(i.e. slavery) were grouped together. This would have helped people to find and read just the laws that
pertained to them.
Examples of the Laws
Many of the laws describe exactly what a worker should earn. For example, one law states that a sailor
should be paid six gur of grain per year.
Some laws were very harsh and the penalties severe:

If a son should strike his father, his hands shall be cut off.

If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

If any man should strike a man of higher rank, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip.

If a builder builds a house for someone and that house collapses killing them, then the builder
shall be put to death.
What makes the code important?
The code itself tells archeologists a lot about the lives of the people of Babylon. It also contains some
important ideas like having people provide evidence of a crime, innocent until proven guilty, and
protection for the weak.
Interesting Facts about the Code of Hammurabi

Shamash, who is featured at the top of the diorite stele, was the Babylonian god of law, justice,
and salvation.

The diorite stele is called "diorite" because it is made from a type of black rock called diorite.

The diorite stele was originally found by archeologists in the ancient city of Susa. Today it can be
found in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest and longest deciphered writings in existence.

The code was written using cuneiform script and the Akkadian language.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was one of the greatest and most powerful civilizations in the history of the world. It lasted
for over 3000 years from 3150 BC to 30 BC.
The Nile River
The civilization of Ancient Egypt was located along the Nile River in northeast Africa. The Nile was the
source of much of the Ancient Egypt's wealth. Great Egyptian cities grew up along the Nile as the
Egyptian people became experts in irrigation and were able to use the water from the Nile to grow rich
and profitable crops. The Nile provided food, soil, water, and transportation for the Egyptians. Great
floods would come each year and would provide fertile soil for growing food.
Pyramids of Giza
Kingdoms and Periods
Historians usually group the history of Ancient Egypt into three major kingdoms called the Old Kingdom,
the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. It was during these times that Ancient Egypt was at its
strongest. The times between the Kingdoms are called intermediate periods.
Culture
Ancient Egypt was rich in culture including government, religion, arts, and writing. The government and
religion were tied together as the leader of the government, the Pharaoh, was also leader of the religion
and considered a god. Writing was also important in keeping the government running. Only scribes could
read and write and they were considered powerful people.
Pyramids and Treasure
The Pharaohs of Egypt were often buried in giant pyramids or in secret tombs. They believed that they
needed treasure to be buried with them to help them in the afterlife. As a result, archeologists have a lot of
well preserved artifacts and tombs to examine in order to find out how the Ancient Egyptians lived.
End of the Empire
The Ancient Egyptian Empire began to weaken in about 700 BC. It was conquered by a number of other
civilizations. The first to conquer Egypt was the Assyrian Empire, followed a hundred or so years later by
the Persian Empire. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great of Greece conquered Egypt and set up his own ruling
family called the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Finally, the Romans came in 30 BC and Egypt became a province of
Rome.
Fun Facts about Ancient Egypt

Egyptian men and women wore makeup. It was thought to have healing powers, plus it helped
protect their skin from the sun.

They used moldy bread to help with infections.

They were one of the first civilizations to invent writing. They also used ink to write and paper
called papyrus.

The Ancient Egyptians were scientists and mathematicians. They had numerous inventions
including ways to build buildings, medicine, cosmetics, the calendar, the plow for farming,
musical instruments, and even toothpaste.

Ancient Egypt plays a major role in the Bible. The Israelites were held captive there as slaves for
many years. Moses helped them escape and led them to the Promised Land.

The Pharaoh kept his hair covered. It was not to be seen by regular people.

Cats were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt.
Phoenicians
Sometime in the Late Bronze Age, around 1300 BC, a group of Semitic people living on the
Mediterranean coast in modern Lebanon became more important than they had been before. These
people, who had been called Canaanites, were now called the Phoenicians (foy-KNEE-shans). They
became more important because the kingdoms which had been controlling them before (mainly the
Egyptians, the Hittites, and the Assyrians) got weaker, and so the Phoenicians were able to get a little
stronger and more independent.
The Phoenicians became excellent sailors, and traded all over the Mediterranean, including to Greece.
A Phoenician bust in the Egyptian style
(from the Louvre)
During the Dark Ages, the Phoenicians got even stronger and began to start colonies all over the
Mediterranean: new cities in new places with Phoenician people living in them. One of the most
important of these colonies was Carthage, in Africa, but there were many others.
After the Dark Ages, the Phoenicians traded with the Greeks again, and now also with the Etruscans.
They learned the alphabet and taught it to their trade partners.
But in 539 BC the Phoenicians, like everybody else in West Asia, were conquered by the Persians. They
became part of the Persian Empire, and the main part of the Persian navy. Because the Phoenicians had
been conquered, they could not run their colonies anymore, and so Carthage and the other Phoenician
colonies became independent.
In 332 BC Alexander the Great attacked the main Phoenician capital, and the head of the Persian navy,
Tyre (like a car tire). After a long siege, he captured Tyre, and the Phoenicians became part of his empire.
By 1200 B.C., the Phoenicians controlled a narrow strip of land that bordered along the Mediterranean
Sea in northern Canaan where they built a number of cities and villages. These cities were bound to one
another by culture, but were governed independently as separate city-states.
The Phoenicians were masters of the sea. Their economy was based on trade. Rather than moving goods
over the land in massive caravans, the Phoenicians built large sailing ships.
It is believed by many historians that the Phoenicians may have traveled to lands as distant as Great
Britain and Spain. This is a tremendous feat considering the level of technology at the time.
Zoroastrianism
Around 1000 BC (probably), about the same time that people in India were writing the Rig Veda, a man
named Zoroaster (also called Zarathustra) was a priest in a small temple in the eastern part of Western
Asia, in an area with a lot of small kingdoms and no major power. Zoroaster believed that he heard the
voice of his chief god, Ahura Mazda, speaking to him and telling him to start a new religion. He told
people that the god was speaking to him, and what the god wanted, but they didn't believe that the god
was really speaking to him. The other people in the town just thought he was suffering from mental
illness. They laughed at him and made fun of him.
Zoroaster sadly left town and travelled around West Asia looking for somebody who would believe him.
Finally he found a king who did believe him. He started to get some followers.
The new religion stayed small for five hundred years, but then they had a big success. We don't know
how it happened, but Zoroaster's followers convinced the new king of the Persians, Cyrus, to support
Zoroastrianism (named after Zoroaster). With the support of the king, Zoroastrianism soon became very
popular.
These are some of the main beliefs of Zoroastrianism as the Persians practiced it. There is one main god,
Ahura Mazda. He has twin sons, and one of them is for Truth and the other is for the Lie. On the side of
Truth are Light, Good, Justice, and people who settle down in cities and farm their land. On the side of
the Lie are Darkness, Evil, and people who travel around and do not farm. You have to choose which one
to follow. While you are alive, if you follow the Truth, you will have a better life: you will find love and
money and victory in battle. After you die, you will go across a bridge to a good place. But if you follow
the Lie, everything will go wrong for you while you are alive, and after you die you will fall off the
bridge and go to a bad place, where it is cold and dark and there is nothing good to eat.
Zoroastrianism was the main religion of the Persian kings for 200 years, until they were conquered by
Alexander the Great in 330 BC. The Greeks who ruled West Asia after Alexander didn't care about it
much, and neither did the Parthians. But the Sassanids, when they took over the Parthian Empire in 227
AD, were very strong believers in Zoroastrianism. The Sassanids tried to make all the people in their
kingdom Zoroastrians. So there were many Zoroastrians in the Sassanid Empire, and the faith even spread
into India and all the way to China.
When West Asia was conquered by the Arabs around 650 AD, most people gradually converted to the
religion of the Arabs, Islam. But there are still some Zoroastrians in the world today, mostly in northern
India, where they are called Parsees (meaning Persians).
-Zarathushtra (Zoroaster in Greek) was the first monotheist. This means he was the first person who
believed in one God.
Zoroastrians call their God Ahura Mazda. Ahura means "Lord" and Mazda means "Wisdom".
Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda is their Friend. And their purpose in this world is to help God
make the world a better place to live.
Zarathushtra says there are two ways of thinking in the world. One is good and the other is bad.
Every one is free to choose between good and bad. However, only those who choose the good will
achieve happiness and peace.
Zoroastrians pray at fire temples. They respect fire because it is the symbol of Ahura Mazda. But
Zoroastrians never worship fire.
Zoroastrianism has influenced Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Ideas like heaven and hell, afterlife, and coming of a savior all have roots in Zoroastrianism.
The Zoroastrian holy book is the Avesta. The oldest and the most sacred part of the Avesta is called
the Gathas-the sacred hymns composed by Righteous Zarathushtra himself. The Avesta is written
centuries after Zarathushtra. Some beliefs in the Avesta are against Zarathushtra's own views.
Zarathushtra has offered his sacred Message to all mankind not just the Iranians.
Anyone who is interested in his ideas can convert to Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrianism is based on Good Thoughts, Good Deeds, and Good Words.