This is the Title/Header
My Shopping List
My Favorite Links
Angelfire - Easiest Free Home Pages
WhoWhere? - The Best Communications Guide on the Web
DigitSmith, Inc. - Embroidery Digitizing & Custom Embroidery Services
Matt's Script Archive - Awesome Web Server Scripts
Babylonian society consisted of three classes represented by the awilu, a free
person of the upper class; the wardu, or slave; and the mushkenu, a free person
of low estate, who ranked legally between the awilu and the wardu. Most slaves
were prisoners of war, but some were recruited from the Babylonian citizenry as
well. For example, free persons might be reduced to slavery as punishment for
certain offenses; parents could sell their children as slaves in time of need;
or a man might even turn over his entire family to creditors in payment of a
debt, but for no longer than three years. Slaves were the property of their master,
like any other chattel. They could be branded and flogged, and they were severely
punished if they attempted to escape. On the other hand, because it was to the
advantage of the master that the slaves stay strong and healthy, they usually were
well treated. Slaves even had certain legal rights and could engage in business,
borrow money, and buy their freedom. If a slave married a free person and had children,
the latter were free. The sale price of a slave varied with the market, as well
as with the attributes of the individual involved; the average price for a grown
man was usually 20 shekels of silver, a sum that could buy some 35 bushels of barley.
The mushkenu
The position of the mushkenu in society can be surmised from a number of legal
provisions in the Code of Hammurabi. To cite comparative examples, if a mushkenu
was injured in eye or limb, he was indemnified by the payment of a mina (roughly
0.45 kg, or 1 lb, of silver); in the case of an awilu similarly injured, the law
of retaliation (lex talionis) was applied; whereas for an injured slave, the indemnity
was to be half the slave's market value. If the injury required surgical treatment,
the awilu had to pay a fee of ten shekels, but the mushkenu paid five shekels;
and, in the case of a slave, the master had to pay a fee of only two shekels.
Family life
The family was the basic unit of Babylonian society. Marriages were arranged by
the parents, and the betrothal was recognized legally as soon as the groom had
presented a bridal gift to the father of the bride; the ceremony often was concluded
with a contract inscribed on a tablet. Although marriage was thus reduced to a practical
arrangement, some evidence exists to show that surreptitious premarital lovemaking
was not altogether unknown. The Babylonian woman had certain important legal rights.
She could hold property, engage in business, and qualify as a witness. The husband,
however, could divorce her on relatively light grounds, or, if she had borne him
no children, he could marry a second wife. Children were under the absolute authority
of their parents, who could disinherit them or, as has already been mentioned, could
even sell them into slavery. In the normal course of events, however, children were
loved and, at the death of the parents, inherited all their property. Adopted children
were not uncommon and were treated with care and consideration.
Email: bmouse95@yahoo.com
