Hammurabi's Code Quiz

Hammurabi addresses every social class in Babylonian society with his rules. The term social class refers to which of the following?

• the rules for how to act when out in public

• a place where students went to learn Hammurabi’s Code

• a group of people who make all the rules for society

• groups of people in society organized by wealth and power

According to the passage, what was the punishment for stealing sheep?

• death

• two years in jail

• replace the sheep with double the number of stolen sheep

• pay a fine 30 times greater than the value of the sheep

Which of the following was a military technique used by Hammurabi to defeat the kingdom of Larsa?

• releasing a dam to flood approaching soldiers

• retreating before battle could begin

• writing a revised version of the code

• cutting off the food supply to Larsa

Today, people look at Hammurabi’s Code as a way to better understand Mesopotamian society. How can the code teach us about issues of equality and the importance of law in ancient Mesopotamia? In your answer, use supporting details and examples from the reading passage.

If a man has knocked out the teeth of a man of the same rank, his own teeth shall be knocked out.  If he has nocked out the teeth of a plebeian (commoner), he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver."
--Code of Hammurabi
Which statement is best supported by this excerpt from Hammurabi's code of laws?

• Law sometimes distinguishes between social classes.
• All men are equal under the law.
• Violence must always be punished with violence.
• Fines are preferable to physical punishment.

Based on this excerpt, which conclusion can be drawn about ancient Mesopotamia?

• People will all be treated the same way by the legal system

• The social class a person belonged to could not be changed

• People were treated differently based on the social class to which they belonged

• A person who was considered property could not be charged with a crime