Notetaking method for lectures and text readings. Suggest that students
follow the following format (you don't have to, but it's good practice):
Date
(if notes continue to another page, put date on again with #; ie: Sept. 17b)
Topic
Government in Mesopotamia.
Question
How did the ancient Mesopotamian govern themselves?
I.
Sumerian government
A.
Individual city-states.
1.
2.
B.
￢
upper house of wealthy citizens
￢
lower house of soldiers
assembly chose judges
￢
judges enforced laws
￢
chose military leaders
Kings (lugals) came later in Sumerian history
1.
position of King created as a response to inter-city warfare and
= central, stable power
2.
represented a god = theocracy
instability
C.
free citizens elected an assembly of 2 houses.
King's role
1.
defence of the city
2.
development and maintenance of irrigation works
3.
his word was law
￢
some kings developed legal codes
4.
II.
Assyrian government
A.
B.
C.
separation of church & state
1.
religious leaders had less power (than in Sumer)
2.
king still got authority from the god Ashur
King VERY powerful
1.
#1 judge
2.
supervised canal building
3.
protector of farmers and shepherds
4.
took charge of military campaigns
Empire expanded
1.
organized into provinces
2.
governors appointed for each province
3.
Date:
later, became hereditary position
￢
collected taxes
￢
raised troops
￢
enforced King's laws
frequent rebellions
￢
forced re-settlement used to quell rebellions
￢
resulted in cross-cultural mixing
Lecture notes: Mesopotamian Laws
What do Mesopotamian laws tell us about their values and society?
A.
Law codes dev'l in both Sumer and Babylonia
1.
law code = attempt to develop one common system of laws to apply
to everyone
2.
punishments were not equally applied to everyone in Sumeria
￢
B.
nobles found guilty of a crime had worse punishment b/c
expected to behave better than commoners.
Hammurabi's Law Code (Babylon)
1.
oldest known written law code (stele)
2.
organizes into different sections; trade, labour, family, etc.
3.
differentiated b/w minor & major crimes (~misdemeanors/ major)
4.
guaranteed social justice to all citizens
5.
concept of: the punishment should fit the crime (eye for an eye)
￢
read p 41 & discuss
￢
h/o: appendix 43 + do other side & discuss differences in wording b/w
handout & text