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Ancient Babylonia

Uploaded by vijayB69 on Oct 26, 2011

This paper is a question and answer discussion of some aspects of life in ancient Babylonia. (3+ pages; 4 sources; MLA citation style)

I Introduction

This paper answers specific questions about the civilization of ancient Babylonia, and is in a question-answer format.

II Answers to the Questions

1. Explain the importance of the topic to someone unfamiliar with it.
Ancient cultures are important because they help us understand who we are, where we came from; and our beliefs, values and behavior. The ancient Babylonians gave us many things, including the concept of impartial justice; the 24-hour day; the idea that a circle contained 360 degrees; and what is generally believed to be the oldest epic poem in history, “Gilgamesh.” (“Babylonia,” pp. 9-11). Perhaps more importantly today, much of ancient Babylonia lies within modern Iraq.
2. What is the time period involved in the study of ancient Babylonia?
Ancient Babylonia was conquered and re-conquered throughout its history, but “[T]he el-Obeid and Warka periods (about 3600-3000 B.C.) represent the beginning of settled culture in Babylonia proper…” (“Babylonia,” p. 9). Babylon finally fell in 514 B.C., thus the extreme range of dates is 3600-514 B.C.; over 3,000 years.
3. What are the most important facts students should know about ancient Babylonia at this time?
There were many developments in the ancient world that are important to us today. Perhaps two of the greatest are the idea of government, and the codification of the law.
Human civilization arose in the Tigris-Euphrates area: Babylonia, in fact. The first people in the area were known as Sumerians, later Babylonians: “After about 3500 B.C. they established centers of civilizations in towns and cities, called ‘city states’.” (Briquebec, p. 14). Each of these city states, according to the author, had a royal palace, a temple, and an administrative center. This means that some of the earliest ideas of government as a central authority come from ancient Babylonia.
I’ve already mentioned the idea of equality of justice. It comes to us from the Code of Hammurabi, which is indeed one of the most vital developments in all history. Hammurabi “realized that good government depended upon justice which the people could understand, so he collected together the old laws and customs, improved them and added new ones of his own.” (Unstead, p. 33). Not only did this mean that the law would be applied to all people in the...

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Uploaded by:   vijayB69

Date:   10/26/2011

Category:   Ancient

Length:   3 pages (697 words)

Views:   3102

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