Laws Of Hammurabi: How To The Ancient Babylonian Society

Laws of Hammurabi The Laws of Hammurabi are an incredible insight to how to the ancient Babylonian society was run. Through the laws we not only get an understanding of the culture of the time, but also what was important to the society, which punishments were deemed appropriate, and how social relations were constructed. By reading the Laws of Hammurabi you can find several mentions of the social structure, the hierarchical way that the society is organized, that existed in Babylonian time. The laws mention man and the common man, women and her maidservant, laborers and artisans, as well as slaves, all coexisting within the society. By observing that there are these different classes, you can further tell that the society was likely divided into four large classes. Those who worked in the fields to provide food, those who worked in the town to provide everyday needs, those who worked as servants or slaves for the upper class, and the upper class, whose main role was to hire those below him for their special skills. One can clearly interpret a difference in class, within the Laws of Hammurabi, when they speak of Physician Fees. The law states the different rewards to a physician upon saving the lives of men of …show more content…
If a man take a wife and she give a maidservant to her husband…”, which shows the class difference between women as mistress and maidservant. However, the line between wife and maidservant can be blurred if the maidservant becomes pregnant with the husband’s child. Law 141 details the happenings when a woman neglects her wifely duties, instead going out around town. In this instance, “If her husband do not announce her divorce, her husband may take another woman. That woman [the first wife] shall dwell in the house of her husband as a maidservant.” We can tell from law 141 that the line between wife and maidservant can be crossed or switched, giving us further insight into the social class of