Which Sumerian
achievement do you believe
is the most important to the
modern world (today)?
Primary sources
• A primary source is an
original object or document;
first-hand information.
• Primary source is material
written or produced in the
time period that you may be
investigating.
• Primary sources enable the
researcher to get as close as
possible to what actually
happened during an historical
event or time period.
Primary Source
• Historical documents such as the Declaration of
Independence or the Constitution are primary
documents. They were drafted and signed.
• Other Primary Sources would be
• Birth Certificates
• Government records
• Deeds
• Court documents
• Military records
• Tax records
• Census records
• Art
What is a Secondary Source?
• A secondary source is
something written about a
primary source.
• Secondary sources are written
"after the fact" - that is, at a later
date.
• Usually the author of a secondary
source will have studied the
primary sources of an historical
period or event and will then
interpret the "evidence" found in
these sources.
• You can think of secondary sources
as second-hand information.
Secondary Source
• Think about it like this….
• If I tell you something, I am
the primary source. If you
tell someone else what I
told you, you are the
secondary source.
• Secondary source materials
can be articles in
newspapers, magazines,
books or articles found that
evaluate or criticize
someone else's original
research
Secondary Source
• Almanacs, encyclopedias, history books
(textbooks), etc. are all secondary sources
because they were written “after” the these
events occurred.
Hammurabi
1790 BC
Babylonian King
Conquers most of
Mespopotamia
Law Code of
Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi
• Standardized Law =
Consistent
• Codified Law = Written
•Everyone knew the LAW
If not equal everyone
had equal protection
under the law…
even women
Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi was a list of 282 laws
brought together and written on an 8 foot tall
stone pillar in 1280 AD for all the people of
Babylonia to see.
What is most famous about
Hammurabi?
You probably assume it was one simple law.
“An eye for an eye.”
And although that was a law, and it is
famous, Hammurabi’s code was a set of
laws for everyone to follow, with set
punishment if not followed. Brilliant Idea?
Right?
#229
If a builder builds a
house for a man and
does not make its
construction sound,
and the house which
he has built collapses
and causes the death
of the owner of the
house, the builder
shall be put to death.
#110
If a "sister of god" (nun)
who is not living in a
convent opens a wine shop
or enters a wine shop for a
drink, they shall burn that
woman.
• 53 If any one be too lazy to keep his
dam in proper condition, and does not
so keep it; if then the dam break and all
the fields be flooded, then shall he in
whose dam the break occurred be sold
for money, and the money shall replace
the corn which he has caused to be
ruined.
• 21 If any one break a hole into a house
(break in to steal), he shall be put to
death before that hole and be buried.
http://www.natgeoeducation
video.com/film/1011/mesop
otamia