The Hammurabi Code

A civilization can be defined as “The stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced”. Babylon was an important step in the development of human societies. Many of Babylon's inventions continue to influence lifeways today. Babylon developed the world’s first written legal code and caused profound changes and advancements in astronomy and math. Through Babylon’s many inventions and superior control over its people it gained power and wealth as a city, and as a result grew more advanced. Babylon can be considered a civilization that is advanced and organized because of its great progress in justice systems, social hierarchy and improvements in women’s lives living in ancient Babylon.
Babylon’s justice
Social hierarchy helped ensure organization and order within the civilization of Babylon. The population of Babylon consisted on three classes: “the amelu, the muskinu and the ardu” and each class had its own privileges and role in society. The amelu consisted of the King and court, higher officials, professionals and craftsmen. The muskinu consisted of a free man who was landless. Finally, the ardu consisted of slaves. This system was regulated by Hammurabi’s code of laws that distinctly laid out the expectations and consequences for each class therefore causing an advanced and intricate system for all people to follow. However, each class was not equal, for example if someone of a greater class hurts someone of a lower class, instead of receiving the same, they may pay a fine. Hammurabi’s code of laws ensured social order or consequence and held people accountable for their actions. Now that the expectations for social order were clearly stated within Hammurabi’s code of laws, people could now move onto more important items for which to advance Babylon, further characterizing it as a civilization. Hammurabi’s code also reinforced social stratification and the organization of Babylon that further advanced the civilizations ways and separated itself from previous
Women’s rights were now protected by the Hammurabi code, when previously any rights women had were not protected by a written code and could easily be challenged or put up for interpretation. Hammurabi’s code left no room for interpretation. Although the main role of married women living in ancient Babylon was to have children, especially boys to be heirs, they did enjoy rights granted by the Hammurabi code such as the right to divorce their husband, a revolutionary right at the time. During the Babylonian civilization women were not completely independent from men and did rely on men for support, however they had full power to remove themselves independently from a bad relationship, if found blameless for the marriage failure. Women and men almost experienced equality during the Babylonian civilization, however this equality would prove to be short lived and by the end of the Babylonian empire and the rise of the Assyrians women had lost almost all of their rights. Women were no longer allowed to attend schools or hold positions of authority. This loss of rights directly relates to the rise of Assyrian monotheism. As societies grew more complex, it can be argued that women’s roles in them grew less and less important for business and society