Comparison Of Women In Mesopotamian Society

1261 Words6 Pages
Different societies view women in different lights. Therefore, a woman’s position is greatly different from one society to the other. The societies in question do not necessarily have to exist at the same time. Even in the same time frame, two societies could exist, where one treat women as equals to men, and another that treats women differently than men, whether better or worse. The societies in question are: Mesopotamia, Greece, China, Rome & Europe, and this essay aims to study different societies’ viewpoints on women, and to compare and contrast them against each other.

When looking at the Mesopotamian Society, one can use many sources, yet a great representative of the society are the Laws of Hammurabi, which dictate the lifestyle of the people of the Mesopotamian Empire. In this society, a woman is regarded at the property of the man. Whether the woman is another man’s wife, or daughter. The woman’s husband’s occupation also dictated her lifestyle. A free man’s wife is treated differently from a civil servant’s wife. For example in the laws 138, 139 and 140, the procedures to divorce a woman are clearly laid out.
138. If a free man wishes to divorce his wife who has had no children, he must pay her a settlement equal to the value of the gifts he gave her father when they were married plus the dowry she brought from her father 's house; by paying this settlement he divorces her.
139. If the free man had given her father no gifts, this part of his settlement shall