An Examination of Women's Roles in Akkadian Society

This essay explores the societal position of women in Akkadian society, drawing heavily on the Hammurabi's Code as a primary source. The introduction highlights the global role of women as caregivers and their adaptability to societal changes. The discussion section delves into the details of the Hammurabi's Code, emphasizing its historical context, the patriarchal structure of the ancient Near East, and the legal protections afforded to women, such as those related to dowries, divorce, and property rights. It also examines the limitations and contradictions within the code, like the concept of women as property, and the laws concerning adultery and marital disputes. The essay highlights the legal framework designed to protect women from abuse, while also noting that they could face punishments for their actions. The conclusion reiterates the high position of women in Akkadian society, as reflected in Hammurabi's Code, and acknowledges that widows and divorcees were particularly in need of societal support. The essay uses multiple scholarly sources to support its claims, providing a comprehensive analysis of women's roles and rights within Akkadian society.

Running head: HAMMURABIS LAW
THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN AKKADIAN SOCIETY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Introduction
Almost all over the world, women are considered to be the main caretakers of elders and
children. Global studies indicate that women take an active role to help families to adapt to new
realities and challenges when the economic and political institutions of a community shift1. This
paper would be arguing that the place of women in Akkadian society is situated in a high
position. While discussing the same it also sheds light on various Hammurabi’s law to support
this statement.
Discussion
The Hammurabi’s Code is a well-maintained Babylonian law code of the ancient
Mesopotamia dating from about 1754 BC. It is one of the ancient decrypted texts in the world
with a substantial duration. This code was enacted by the Sixth Babylonian King Hammurabi
which consisted of 282 laws with severe punishments, for instance ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth’. The basis of the punishment is social status and sex, such as women vs. men, slave vs.
free man2. One-third of this Code deals with domestic and family relations such as ancestry,
divorce, paternity and sexual conduct. The laws were organized into classes to allow people to
read what they wanted. It had been made clear in the Hammurabi code that there is a patriarchal
structure in the former Near East under which legislation is required to grant women protection
from abuse3. Legislation limited women’s dowries and how they might be divorced.
The State, therefore, acknowledged that women needed to be protected from men by
statute. Unfortunately, although such legal security is provided, women tend to be regarded as
1 Chavalas, Mark, ed. Women in the Ancient Near East: a sourcebook. Routledge, 2013.
2 Roffer, Michael. The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the
History of Law (Sterling). Sterling, 2015.
3 Nemet-Nejat, Karen. "Akkadian wisdom literature." Women in the Ancient Near East. Routledge, 2013. 87-112.

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slave-like property. Thus, there are several key problems in the Hammurabi Code which show
that the individual rights of women have been backed by the social order in the old Near East4.
Women married into a contract with their families. She came with a dowry, and the bride
was also followed by the gifts of the wedding by the groom. Not only have that in the pre-
illiterate society, bride price also been used to reimburse the family of the bride for the loss of
labour. The bride price had been used in Babylonia as a part of the dowry5. However, the dowry
was treated as a part of household assets and also managed by the husband, but lawfully it was
kept separately to support the wife and her kids [Sections 151-152]. If a woman had two kids by
two husbands then she must split her dowry between them equally [Section 173].
On the other hand, if the mind of the groom had been changed regarding marriage at the
time of signing the marriage contract, he did not have married that girl but the full bride price
needs to be paid [160]. Also, if the wife died before delivery of the son then the father of the wife
was entitled to get the amount of dowry after subtracting the bride price [Sections 163-164].
Nevertheless, a woman might be sent away or become a slave in the married house if she
was known as an ‘evil wife’. If a woman sues her husband on grounds of abuse and disrespect,
she will get a legal separation if the argument is proven or otherwise may receive punishment
[Sections 131-132].
The people of the ancient times believed that the sexuality of a woman is something
which must be kept for her husband and after marriage, the sexuality of a woman became the
personal property of her husband. The same view has also been observed in Hammurabi’s Code.
In Babylonia as well as the ancient world, adultery was described as a sexual relationship
4 Weiershäuser, Frauke. "Narrating about Men, Narrating about Women in Akkadian Literature." Gender and
methodology in the ancient Near East (2019).
5 Lenzi, Alan, et al. "Reading Akkadian prayers and hymns: an introduction." (2011)

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between a married lady and a man except for her husband. In the case of adultery, the marital
status of the man was immaterial and the matter of adultery was considered to be as a very
serious offence. If a woman caught red-handed while performing sexual intercourse with her
lover other than husband then she was thrown into the water along with her lover and drowned.
However, a husband could save the life of her wife but for that, he had to forgive that the lover of
her wife also [Section 129].
Besides arranged marriages, love marriages were also observed in the ancient world.
However, if a relationship failed and the man ran away then the woman was free to marry
anyone. Not only that, if the man returned after sometime he could not get back her and the
woman could not leave her husband as well [Section 136].
A father had the authority to dedicate her daughter to serve a specific god as a nun
without depriving her of his property and she got it as a dowry if did not get married [Sections
178-182]6.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the place of women in
Akkadian society is situated in a high position. Hammurabi realized that widows and divorcees
needed the help of the society the most then other women. For this reason, The Hammurabi Code
was enacted to protect women from abuse. However, women also got punishments for their
wrongful behaviour.
6 Slanski, Kathryn E. "The Law of Hammurabi and its audience." Yale JL & Human. 24 (2012): 97.

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Reference
Chavalas, Mark, ed. Women in the Ancient Near East: a sourcebook. Routledge, 2013.
Lenzi, Alan, et al. "Reading Akkadian prayers and hymns: an introduction." (2011).
Nemet-Nejat, Karen. "Akkadian wisdom literature." Women in the Ancient Near East.
Routledge, 2013. 87-112.
Roffer, Michael. The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250
Milestones in the History of Law (Sterling). Sterling, 2015.
Slanski, Kathryn E. "The Law of Hammurabi and its audience." Yale JL & Human. 24 (2012):
97.
Weiershäuser, Frauke. "Narrating about Men, Narrating about Women in Akkadian
Literature." Gender and methodology in the ancient Near East (2019).