Reply To: Social stratification in the Ancient Near East

[Laura Barber]

The strong social separation between those of different classes and levels of wealth can clearly be seen in the code of law created by Hammurabi in the Babylonian empire. He founded the ‘eye for an eye’ law, but designed it so that punishments were only equal when the victim and perpetrators were so-called ‘equals.’ One example of this control of the higher-class citizens over the lower-class citizens is displayed in “Assurbanipal and His Queen in the Garden.’ Servants on either side of the royal couple fan them and bring them trays of food, all while the severed heads of their enemies hang from the trees in an elaborately decorated room. This juxtaposition of wealth and power is made clear by the many evident differences between the lives of the royalty and their servants.