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Instructions: 1.) This is fun activity to teach Hammurabi s Code that engages students in a variety of ways, so feel free to adapt to meet the needs of your students! Prior to class, post the stone tablets around the room. Students will use this in the second part of this activity. 2.) Inform students that they will be serving in the role of judges where they will decide a variety of court cases! Then, they will compare their judgements to those in the Hammurabi Code! 3.) Have students read over each scenario and provide a brief explanation of the punishment they would. I have found this works very good individually but also in partners. Take your pick! 4.) Once students have judged each case, have students navigate around the room to complete the According to Hammurabi section for each scenario. I like to have students read over the code, then try to figure out which scenario is relates to. 5.) Once finished, have students grab the Now that you know... handout and answer the debriefing questions. 6.) Enjoy!

Name Period How would you handle Hammurabi s Code? Directions: You will be taking on the role of a judge in ancient Babylonia. It is your duty to assign punishments based on the crime that has been committed! Read over each of the six scenarios on the front and back of this paper. Once you understand the case, deliver a punishment that you feel is appropriate for the crime! You will write what you think the punishment should be in the section that says Your decision. Once your teacher allows you, move around the room to find how this person would have been punished under Hammurabi s Code! SCENARIO I: A man who is accused of robbing a home stands before you. After reviewing the evidence, you find that he is guilty of robbery. What will his punishment be? Your decision: According to Hammurabi s Code: SCENARIO II: A construction worker who has built several homes in the neighborhood stands before you. His most recent project, however, has caused some controversy in your town because the home caved in and killed the entire family. What will you give as punishment? Your decision: According to Hammurabi s Code: SCENARIO III: A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him You are not my master! How will you punish this slave? Your decision: According to Hammurabi s Code:

SCENARIO IV: A sailor stands before you. He is accused of borrowing a friend s boat and wrecking it. The man denies that he wrecked the boat and claims to have given the boat back in great condition. After you investigate, you discover that the sailor should have treated his friend s boat better. What will give as his punishment? Your decision: According to Hammurabi s Code: SCENARIO V: Two young men stand in front of you for fighting. Both of fights took place in the same week and you thought it would be easier to judge them at once since they are so similar. The first boy attacked his father. You are never able to figure out what exactly the father did, so all you know is that the boy hit his father. The boy admitted to this. How will you punish him? The second boy got into a fight over a game: one boy claims to have won yet the other claims that he is in fact the winner. In the fight, the boy pokes the other boy s eye out. What should happen the boy who did this act? Your decision for the first boy: According to Hammurabi s Code: Your decision for the second boy: According to Hammurabi s Code: SCENARIO VI: A man and a barber stand before you. The man is accused of tricking the barber into marking a slave for sale when it really was not really for sale. It is taking you a long time to figure out if the man really did trick the barber, or if the barber marked the slave knowingly. How would you rule in either case? Your decision if the barber was tricked: Your decision if the barber marked the slave knowingly: According to Hammurabi s Code:

Name Period Now that you know... Hammurabi s Code! 1.) Now that you have examined six of Hammurabi s Codes, what is at least one thing that surprised you? 2.) Do you think Hammurabi s Code was harsh or lenient on those who broke the law? Why do you think it was this way? 3.) Period to Hammurabi s Code being posted in public for everyone to see, laws were only transmitted orally. Why would a written legal code be an improvement over an oral set of laws? 4.) King Hammurabi is one of several influential men depicted in a marble statue found in the chambers of the United States Supreme Court. Even though he lived roughly 3,500 years before the creation of the United States, why you do think a status of him is found here?

#22: IF ANY ONE IS COMMITTING A ROBBERY AND IS CAUGHT, THEN HE SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH.

#229: IF A BUILDER BUILD A HOUSE FOR SOME ONE, AND DOES NOT CONSTRUCT IT PROPERLY, AND THE HOUSE WHICH HE BUILT FALL IN AND KILL ITS OWNER, THEN THAT BUILDER SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH.

#282: IF A SLAVE SAY TO HIS MASTER: "YOU ARE NOT MY MASTER," IF THEY CONVICT HIM HIS MASTER SHALL CUT OFF HIS EAR.

#236: IF A MAN RENT HIS BOAT TO A SAILOR, AND THE SAILOR IS CARELESS, AND THE BOAT IS WRECKED OR GOES AGROUND, THE SAILOR SHALL GIVE THE OWNER OF THE BOAT ANOTHER BOAT AS COMPENSATION.

#195: IF A SON STRIKE HIS FATHER, HIS HANDS SHALL BE HEWN OFF. #196: IF A MAN PUT OUT THE EYE OF ANOTHER MAN, HIS EYE SHALL BE PUT OUT.

#226: IF A BARBER, WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS MASTER, CUT THE SIGN OF A SLAVE ON A SLAVE NOT TO BE SOLD, THE HANDS OF THIS BARBER SHALL BE CUT OFF. #227: IF ANY ONE DECEIVE A BARBER, AND HAVE HIM MARK A SLAVE NOT FOR SALE WITH THE SIGN OF A SLAVE, HE SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH, AND BURIED IN HIS HOUSE. THE BARBER SHALL SWEAR: "I DID NOT MARK HIM WITTINGLY," AND SHALL BE GUILTLESS.