10 Chapter 1
carelessness. Contracts governed everything from
marriage to interest rates and could not be broken
without paying a heavy fine.
Hammurabi’s Code was driven by an almost op-
pressive sense of social responsibility. The ecology of
Mesopotamia was both fragile and highly artificial.
Only elaborate regulation could prevent disaster, and
the law is explicit on many aspects of trade, agriculture,
and manufacturing. Courts and town councils took an
interest in matters that other cultures have regarded as
private. Furthermore, because there were no lawyers,
the parties to a dispute were expected to plead their
own cases.
Marriage, as in most ancient cultures, was arranged
by parents. The bride received a dowry, which she was
entitled to keep in the event of widowhood or divorce.
Husbands could demand a divorce at any time but had
to pay maintenance and child support unless they could
demonstrate that the wife had failed in her duties.
These duties, like all other aspects of the marriage
arrangement, were spelled out in a detailed contract
that in effect made the couple a single person, responsi-
ble before the law for their actions and their debts. The
latter was an important point, for husbands had the
right to sell wives and children into servitude, usually
for no more than two or three years, to satisfy their
creditors.
The system was patriarchal, but wives could sue for
divorce on grounds of cruelty or neglect, or if their hus-
band falsely accused them of adultery. If adultery were
proved, the guilty couple would be tied together and
drowned; if the aggrieved husband forgave his wife, her
lover would be pardoned as well. All of these family is-
sues were heard before the city councils, which demon-
strates the continuing importance of local government
even after the establishment of an empire. Women, like
men, were expected to plead their own cases—a right
often denied them in more modern legal systems—but
recourse to the law had its perils. To reduce litigation,
Hammurabi’s Code decreed the death penalty for those
who brought false accusations or frivolous suits.
Hammurabi, like most lawgivers, claimed divine
sanction for his code, but Mesopotamian religion was
not legalistic. The Sumerians had worshipped more
than three thousand deities, most of whom represented
natural forces or the spirit of a particular locality. In
time many of them acquired human form, and a rich
mythology developed around their adventures. Babylon
made its city god, Marduk, its chief, while the Assyri-
ans accorded similar honors to Ashur. Both were
thought of as creators who had brought the universe
out of primal chaos. Other gods and goddesses were
still worshipped, but in an apparent step toward
monotheism, they were increasingly described as
agents of Marduk or Ashur and eventually as manifesta-
tions of a single god.
The power of the gods was absolute. Humans were
dependent on their whims and could hope only to pro-
pitiate them through the ceremonies of the priests (see
illustration 1.4). The problem of the righteous suffererIllustration 1.
Sumerians Worshipping Abu, God
of Vegetation.This group of marble
votive statues (the largest is thirty
inches high and probably represents the
local king) was carved at Eshnunna in
southern Mesopotamia between 2700
and 2500 B.C. The figures were placed
around the altar and were expected to
serve as perpetual stand-ins for their
donors. The huge, staring eyes reflect
the rapt attention expected by the god.