hammurabi's code: women

            According to Hammurabi's Code, we are able to see that even though women were viewed as private property of the male head of household, they were treated in some respects fairly. For example, code 134 states "If a man has been taken prisoner, and there is no food in his house, and his wife enters the house of another; than that woman bears no blame."" This tells us that the people of Babylon used common sense. Instead of making the wife starve, she was treated fairly and able to "divorce- her husband and go to the home of another man. Also code 142 states "If a woman hate her husband, and says Thou shalt not possess me, the reason for her dislike shall be inquired into. If she is careful and has no fault, but her husband takes himself away and neglects her; then that woman is not to blame. She shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house."" This treats the woman fairly in the fact that she is able to divorce her husband if he is treating her bad, with no repercussions. Code 152 states "If, after that woman has entered the man's house, they incur debt, both of them must satisfy the trader."" I would think that since women were treated as property that the man acquires, then he should be responsible for the debt he incurs with his new property. Hammurabi's code on the other hand kind of puts women as an equal and realizes that they were part of the debt, therefore they shall help pay for the debt. I agree with the text when it says "In Babylonian society, women were considered intellectually and physically inferior to men and "much like slaves "were regarded as the personal property of the male head of the household-, but women also shared many codes which almost put them as equals in society.