#code of hammurabi

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Ancient Law Unearthed From 5000 BC

Though the Code of Hammurabi is often cited as the first legal text, a much older stele dating to 5750 BC is thought to have held an earlier code of law, specifically dealing with mineral sales and metals of the proto-bronze age. The stele only has one law remaining intact but may have held over 20 total.

Unearthed from an ancient tin mine in Serbia, the Stele of Cassander The Nameless is a solid granite block measuring about 3 meters tall, engraved with Ancient Macedonian letters and mostly broken apart by time and mining activity.

Most of the laws on the stele are unreadable, but law 7 is fully intact and details the ownership rights of tin ingots, stating that it was not the miner nor the owner of the mine who had the right to sell the tin, but rather whoever participated in the smelting and reduction into the metal's pure form. Because of the past tense writing of ancient Hellenistic dialects, the first law recorded in human civilization translates exactly to, "He who smelt it dealt it."

[inspofromancientworld]

The History of Marriage I

While relationships have likely been important to hominins for as long as we've been hominins, marriage is likely only as old as settled agriculture and the rise of urbanization, when we stopped living in family groups and smaller tribes of around 30 people or so, following the seasons and food. These mobile groups likely consisted of men and women who likely paired up and shifted partners as desired and the children were raised as a group.

The first recorded marriage as we'd recognize it dates back to about 2350 BCE in Mesopotamia, when more formalized laws of all kinds began developing. With these early laws, the father and either prospective husband or his father enter into a contract, most likely without any input from the bride-to-be. During this time, polygyny, where a single man could have multiple wives, was likely commonplace among those would could afford to support them, as were concubines, female servants or slaves with whom a man 'has a legally recognized social status in a household below that of wife'. These early marriage contracts often had a price attached for the bride and the bride could be returned if no children were produced and the bride-price would have to be returned.

Once the marriage was agreed upon, if the couple were both 'free citizens', then the bride would be perfumed by her husband-to-be would perfume his bride-to-be and offer her gifts and the beginnings of provisions for their household. The marriage ceremony consisted of the bride being delivered to her husband and him veiling her in front of witnesses, declaring her to be his wife. From there, the bride would be part of the husband's family. The wife would receive a gift toward maintaining their household which would be the 'inalienable property of her children' and could not be claimed by her husbands family. If the husband died before the wife, she would be married to his brother, if he had one, or if not, she would be married to his nearest male relation. According to the Code of Hammurabi, the only reason for two wives was infertility of the first. It did not, however, forbid a concubine for any reason. A concubine would wear a veil, the mark of marriage, when accompanying the wife out of the home.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

TODAY IN HISTORY

10 August 1793

The Louvre opened in Paris, eventually becoming the most visited museum in the world.

Check out the most famous works in the Louvre below! 👇🏼🧵

The Code of Hammurabi — 1750 BC

Venus de Milo — 2nd century BC

Winged Victory of Samothrace — 190 BC

Liberty Leading the People — 1830

The Raft of the Medusa — 1819

The Coronation of Napoleon — 1807

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss — 1793

(L): The Seated Scribe — 2500 BC

(R): The Great Sphinx of Tanis — 2600 BC

Mona Lisa — between 1503 and 1506

[polyglotabc]

Unearthing Ancient Civilizations

The Importance of Over 30,000 Preserved Cuneiform Writings Deciphering a Lost Language Insights into Daily Life and Culture The Epic of Gilgamesh Technological and Scientific Advances Religious and Mythological Texts The Role of Cuneiform in Modern Research Challenges in Preservation and Interpretation Enhancing Accessibility and Understanding Book Recommendations Online Resources and…

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[empirearchives]

I was reading a book about Ancient Mesopotamia, and came across this mention of the Napoleonic Code:

Over the centuries the law continued to grow, adapting to the changing needs of society as it progressed, from the Napoleonic Code of 1804, which legalized the reforms of the French Revolution

Source: Samuel Noah Kramer, Cradle of Civilization

The book is about what is believed to be the first civilization, and how it’s own developments (writing, urbanization, law, trade, etc) have impacted and laid the foundation for societies to this day. Really amazing to see how history is all connected.

[quotent-potables]

The first duty of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful.

Allegedly Hammurabi, from the Code of Hammurabi. While it could be a rogue translation, I suspect it is instead a misattribution.

[noosphe-re]

Code of Hammurabi

[on-misty-mountains]

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

This museum is beautiful, though still being restored from the outside, hence no pictures. The focus of the exhibitions was partly on Islamic art. There were many items from Syria on display, as one of the themes was the challenges to archaeology in a time of war. There were before and after pictures of ancient sites which are now lost forever, which made me feel sad, but also grateful for what I have. 

Edit: Of course there were many artefacts from pre-Islamic times, but there were also many examples of Islamic art, which couldn't all fit into one post. I just chose my favourite parts. Go and see for yourself ;)