Right from the very beginning we read of how important writing was for the ancient civilizations and and how it was a "central feature". Of course writing from the past gave us insight on how things may have been during the earliest days and perhaps what values the ancient people had and to also give us an idea of what they may gave been thinking.
One of the oldest writings ever found is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a rather lengthy story of a ruler and his many quests. I once had to read bits of it back at the community college, and even though I have forgotten a good amount of it, I remember it being quite interesting, especially coming from the earliest story tellers of all time. The part I greatly remember has to do when Gilgamesh loses his best friend, Enkidu, who goes along with him on his journeys. The gods try to kill Enkidu, which for a while he is able to avoid his unfortunate...eh future...but is eventually killed and Gilgamesh is devastated. Being completely new to death, he begins to realize the limitations to mortality which, in effect, begins to realize that he too is neither invincible. This leads him to finding eternal life which at the end of the story learns that it can not be granted to mortals and that someday he will die too.
While reading the little exert of the Epic of Gilgamesh I was kind of confused during a couple of parts because I didn't have a clue about what they were talking about. But for the most part it went over similar parts that I remembered learning about from my previous history class.
The Law Code of Hammurabi is a very interesting code that I am also familiar with from my previous class. It is a list of over a hundred laws that was created for the Mesopotamian culture. A quick glimpse at the code can quickly give you a feeling of how things may have been been in their culture. I actually enjoyed learning about this law system because it not only gave me a bit of insight on our past culture's values but it also explained how judgement was passed upon those who violated the code.
I am actually quite happy that our law system isn't identical to this code because depending on your personal status, the code can be easier on you or harsher on you. I feel that the code is actually unfair at time, especially since children don't have much of any say with this code. The Ways of the World stats the second code first under the category of On crime, Punishment, and Justice, and already it speaks of a way to tell if someone being accusing by another is guilty or not, but in a illogical way. You have to jump into a river, and if you survive then the accuser gets a large penalty against them self. Perhaps because of this law people didn't accuse each other very often. According to law number 5, a judge can also be penalized for making bad judgements.
Other portions of the code address slavery, mean and women, and the economy. Looking through these selected law gives a great idea of the values of the Mesopotamian culture and how they saw men, women, rich, poor, and slaves. A lot of it deals with "getting even." If you take something from one person, they will take back, legally. Or if you hurt someone, they can hurt you right back. However, the code also seems to address on if someone was to take something from another for a long time, they can keep it. In law number 30, if someone went out to war with no one to watch their possessions and someone else takes it for three years, they can keep it. The law also has laws against laziness as well. There are also portions of the Code that address divorce for a man and a woman or what penalties they must pay if they were to cheat on each other, or to leave each other. All of this shows many of things people shouldn't do keep the well-being of the people. The punishments are so great in some of the laws, showing what meant the most to the Mesopotamian people and also what they didn't want others to do or violate.
The final portion of the Chapter 2 documents go over Egypt and their values over life, death, and eternal life. I am sure I speak for most people when I say that ancient Egypt has to be one of the most interesting cultures to ever study about. There is so much history on them and a lot of it was very fascinating and created a lot of mythologies and stories that we still talk about today. The next set of documents show different spells and passages that the Egyptians would practice to help their journey to eternal life.
Andrew Murillo
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