Member of the upper class

If a member of the upper class commits a crime, he is punished more severely than a lower class person, even though the crime is the same.

A slave could protest his sale and ask the courts to decide.

A slave could buy his own freedom.

It was illegal to sell your own son into slavery.

If a free woman marries a slave, the children inherit the mother’s freedom.

Marriage was arranged by the couple being wed, not the family.

Upon engagement, the man would present the woman’s family with a money gift, which he would have to give up if he broke the engagement.

Upon marriage, all of the wife’s possessions always became the property of the husband.

If a woman’s husband died, the entire estate went to the oldest son.

It was possible for a son to claim his inheritance before his father died.

Children had few rights in Sumerian society

The Chaldean king who built the Gardens of Babylon

King of Kish around 2300 BC, built the city of Akkad.

Ruler of the city of Uruk, an epic was written about him.

Ruler of Babylonia, famous for his code of law.

These peoples from Syria destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC. They admired Sumerian culture.

These peoples were among the first to do metalwork, and made weapons & chariots

Located in present-day Lebanon, this people had a vast trade network in the Mediterranean Sea

After conquering the Fertile Crescent, this peoples ruled from the city of Nineveh

A set of letters used to form words, developed by the Phoenicians

A pyramid shaped temple tower

Picture symbols used in writing

The world’s first system of writing, developed by the Sumerians

River in northern Mesopotamia

River in southern Mesopotamia