Lesson 2: The Ancient River Basin

Ancient Two River Basin Civilization

The "Two Rivers" refers to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in West Asia; the Two River Basin, also known as "Mesopotamia," meaning "the place between the two rivers," was roughly a narrow strip of land centered on the present-day capital of Iraq, Baghdad. It is a long, narrow strip of land centered around Baghdad, the capital of Iraq today. From about 3500 B.C. onward, a number of small, city-centered states emerged in the southern part of the two river basins, and there was much warfare between them.

The initial unification of the two river basins was achieved around 2400 BCE. Over the next 1,800 years, the two river basins were unified several times, but they were also subject to foreign invasions and internal wars. During the ancient Babylonian kingdom, Hammurabi established a unified and powerful slave state.

Ancient Babylonian Kingdom

The ancient Babylonian kingdom was originally a small kingdom in the middle of the Euphrates River. The sixth king, Hammurabi, adopted a strategy of foreign aggression to unify the entire middle and lower reaches of the two river basins and established a huge kingdom known as the ancient Babylonian kingdom.

Hammurabi was an autocratic monarch who strengthened centralized power and developed a more systematic and complete code of laws. His reign was the most powerful period of the ancient Babylonian kingdom.

The Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is the first known complete written code of law in the world. It is inscribed on a black stone pillar and contains 282 articles, in addition to the preamble, which are very extensive and provide a clear picture of ancient Babylonian society.

From the code, it is clear that ancient Babylon was divided into three strict social classes: free people with citizenship, free people without citizenship, and slaves. The slavery system was quite developed in ancient Babylon. Prisoners of war were the main source of slaves, and slaves were also bought and sold. Domestic slavery was a major feature of ancient Babylon, with male parents having the power of life and death over their slaves, absolute authority over their wives and children, and even the ability to send their wives and children to pay off debts when they were in debt. The code clearly retains some of the concepts of the primitive era. At the same time, the Code contains many provisions on leasing, hiring, exchange, lending, etc., indicating that the commodity economy was relatively active in ancient Babylon.

The Code of Hammurabi is a valuable cultural legacy of the ancient Babylonian kingdom and demonstrates the long history of the legal tradition in human society.

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