Welcome to my take on what I discovered through videos and readings. Early Western civilizations, such as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, had cities as administration, commerce, and cultural advancement centers. The Hebrews video taught me that their beginning religion was Henotheistic. There was the main god, Yahweh, and the belief in lesser gods. Religion heavily influenced communities, giving them order and legitimacy. Centralized governments, often led by monarchs, were formed, usually requiring military installations. The movie A Space Odyssey depicted cavemen discovering tools and developing a power hierarchy. The tools were used as weapons. In the clip, a gang of cavemen take over another group. We can see a progression of understanding and development.
Hammurabi was the sixth king of the Babylonian dynasty. He is remembered for his Hammurabi code. This code was displayed on a large stone monument. This is interesting since reading was not a skill developed for everyone at this time. The Code of Hammurabi provided us with an acknowledgment that laws and a system were in place even before Hammurabi ruled Babylon. Societies were typically ranked, with a governing class, priests, merchants, artisans, and farmers. Unfortunately, slavery was prevalent, and labor specialization was common. Cavemen created pictures and art on walls, eventually forming into writing systems. The development of writing allowed people to document legislation, trade, religious texts, and historical events. There was a total of 282 rules. The laws were carved into rock. I discovered that the rock slab that listed the rules was stolen one time. Later, it was recovered in 1901. The importance of the Code of Hammurabi was the acknowledgment that regulations had been established along with fines for offenses.
