Hammurabi Code of Law

            What I learned about the society of 1792 - 1750 B.
             After reading the examples given to us in class of the code of Hammurabi, I learned a lot about the society that followed it out. There is a definite class structure that goes from a noble to a freeman, commoner, and all the way down to a slave. There were different punishments/awards for the different class structure that committed the crimes. For example: If a surgeon sets a freeman's bone must pay the surgeon five shekels of silver. But if it was done to a commoners bone, it was only three shekels. Because there was payment, there was also currency in this group of people that lived in Mesopotamia. Shekels of silver and minas of silver are a couple of different pieces that they used. Since there was surgery being done, then there was also a medical system already in place almost 4000 years ago. But, being a surgeon was also a very dangerous job because if the surgeon screwed the operation up on a noble, his hands were cut off. Again, this shows definite class structure because they value the nobles way more than any other type of men. Also, there were not only human surgeons, but veterinary surgeons. There were temples and houses so there was also an organized community with religion. There was a form of government insurance incase your goods were stolen or damaged by a natural disaster. Kidnapping was taken very seriously and the penalty was death. Women rights were virtually non existent. If you caused a miscarriage by an act of violence, you had to pay five shekels of silver. But, if you killed the woman in the mean while, you had to pay half a mina of silver. Again, this shows that a woman's life could be placed on money, which shows how much man cared about women. Men were very much above every one else. If a son struck the father, his hands would be cut off. This shows that a child should have a lot of respect for his father's wishes and decisions, no matter what they are.