Education is the key to sapient life. No animal other than man is known to possess this quality. Knowledge is power and, as such, the true struggle for the female sex to overcome the ancient misogynist ideals of societal value is fundamentally based on their ability to gain social and political power through wisdom and knowledge. Historically, the role of women was dictated by survival and the needs of societies driven by men, access to education was very limited, and many historical circumstances ensured the continued repression of the female gender.
The part women played in the success of the harsh life of the ancient Mesopotamian family is easily defined in the historical record by the implements of daily life that they left behind like kitchen utensils, bowls, and furnishings. While men were primarily concerned with matters of government and commerce, women were responsible for the basic survival of the species in domestic matters and raising children. Ancient women were free to participate in commerce, attend legal matters, and some even owned property. However, education was limited only to high status women such as priestesses and royal family members. The first law code of Western history, the Code of Hammurabi, outlines the judicial practices of the day, and provides us with some ideas of the conditions women endured during the early 18th century B.C. Hammurabi, ruler of the Babylonian dynasty from 1792 to 1750 B.C., was probably a pragmatist who simply put the judicial practices of his day into writing, from it we can deduce a few premises about the female role in society: "1. Social order was more important that individual rights. 2. Women's sexuality should be sacrificed to ensure legitimacy. 3. A family's wealth should be administered by the husband or father. 4. Women, especially widows and divorcees, needed society's help." The code severely restricts female sexuality because motherhood was determinable while fatherhood was not.
