Hammurabi's Code

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Open Ended

How did laws help Hammurabi maintain his empire?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements best describes Hammurabi's significance in history?

• He was a king of Babylon who united Mesopotamia under the Babylonian Empire.

• He was a famous Egyptian pharaoh.

• He was a Greek philosopher known for his teachings.

• He was a Roman emperor who expanded the Roman Empire.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was NOT a method used by Hammurabi to strengthen his empire?

• Divide and conquer strategy

• Assimilating Mesopotamian and Sumerian cultures

• Building irrigation canals and temples

• Isolating Babylon from foreign trade

Multiple Select

What are two main purposes of Hammurabi's Code based on the information provided?

• To create laws for Babylonian society

• To unify the expanding empire

• To encourage foreign invasions

• To limit the power of the king

Open Ended

What did Hammurabi’s Code do successfully? In what ways was it unsuccessful?

Open Ended

Document A: Religion (answer all 3 questions in your response)

1. According to this document, where did Hammurabi get his power as king? According to the text was the religion monotheistic or polytheistic (1 god or many gods) and how do you know?

2. According to this document, was the religion monotheistic or polytheistic, what is your evidence?

3. According to this document, what was the goal of Hammurabi's code?

Multiple Choice

Document B: Economy

Working the fields: Summarize laws 42-43

• Law 42 states that a person can keep the grain if they do not work the field.
• Law 43 allows a person to abandon a field without any consequences.
• Law 42 requires that all fields must be left fallow for a year before planting.
• Law 42 requires that if a person takes a field but does not work it, they must return the grain to the owner. Law 43 mandates that if a field is left fallow, the person must give grain to the owner and return the field plowed.

Multiple Choice

Document B: Economy

       The dams: Summarize laws 53-54 in your own words. 

• Law 53: Farmers must pay for any damages caused by their crops.
• Law 54: Dam owners are exempt from any compensation for flooding.
• Law 53: Negligence in dam maintenance results in fines for farmers.
• Law 53: Negligence in dam maintenance leads to compensation for damages. Law 54: Inability to replace damaged corn results in division of possessions among affected farmers.

Open Ended

Document B: Economy

According to this document, do you think most people in Babylonia made  money in cities or in the country? 

How do you know this from reading the document? (evidence)

Open Ended

Document C: Society (answer both questions in your response)

Code 196: what is the punishment for put out the eye of "another man"?

How might code 196 be seen as an attempt to promote equality?

Open Ended

Document C: Society (answer both questions in your response)

Code 199 describes a different punishment for putting out the eye of an enslaved person. What does this tell us about equality in Babylonia?

Multiple Choice

Document C: Society

Find two other passages that provide evidence of inequality in Hammurabi’s Code. (Be sure to include the number of the code.)

• Code 203: A free-born man must pay a gold mina for striking another free-born man and 117.

• Code 196: A man shall pay a fine for harming another man's property and code 141.

• Code 138: A man’s wife must return her dowry if she wishes to leave. Code 202: A higher-ranked person receives harsher punishment than a lower-ranked person.
• Code 117: A man must work for three years to pay off a debt and 138

Open Ended

Document C: Society

What do codes 117,138, and 141 suggest about the status of women in Babylonian society?

Open Ended

Explain how Hammurabi's Code helped unify the Babylonian Empire. Use evidence from the images to support your answer.

Open Ended

In a REAL paragraph, What can we learn about Babylonia from Hammurabi's Code?

(use the sentence starters in the image to help you)

Multiple Choice

Who was Hammurabi and what was his significance in Mesopotamian history?

• Hammurabi was a Greek philosopher who wrote about democracy.
• Hammurabi was a Babylonian king known for creating one of the earliest written legal codes, the Code of Hammurabi.
• Hammurabi was a Roman general who conquered Mesopotamia.
• Hammurabi was a famous Egyptian pharaoh known for his pyramids.