2. Prominent Landmarks from the First
Civilizations
The Origins of Cuneiform
The Influence of Hammurabi’s
Laws
The Role of the Greeks’
Translation of the Phoenician
Alphabet
3. CUNEIFORM
Cuneiform script came to be used
for more than three thousand years
(Fiero 6).
Hazor (a Palestinian city) is the site of
the most documents containing
cuneiform, and they are the most
varied.
Sources included school exercises,
letters and administrative
documents from the Middle and
Late Bronze Ages (Horowitz 98).
One transaction was of an
administrative nature (see picture),
and it listed the garments included in
the order (Horowitz 99).
4. Two fragments of tablet, both made from clay, contained portions
of Akkadian laws, similar to those of Hammurabi (Horowitz 99).
Monetary values of compensation were documented for injured
body parts: nose, eye, tooth, ear, and “a slap to the cheek”
(Horowitz 100).
5. RELATION TO MODERN TIMES
Cuneiform was a precursor to the alphabet, and
followed pictographic writing. Cuneiform can best
be compared to signs located on roads, in restrooms,
and in other places.
6. The Stele of Hammurabi (see picture)
contains 282 clauses and is seven feet tall
(Fiero 11).
Since marriage fulfills needs biologically,
economically, and emotionally, laws
associated with it were meant to create
solutions for problems before, during, and
after (Nelson 2).
Marriages began with a contract, were
somewhat monogamous, and offspring was
the primary expectation of the wife (Nelson
4).
If a wife became an adulterer, she would
be thrown into the river. If she bore no
children, the couple could adopt, have a
surrogate, or she could be divorced (Nelson
7).
HAMMURABI’S LAWS
7. The wife (unless widowed) should be a
virgin, and she could only have sexual
relations with her husband. The husband,
on the other hand, could sleep with
anyone, as long as it was not rape,
incest, or an affair with an already
married woman
(Nelson 8).
A woman could receive financial support
from her husband after divorce if she
proved that “she had succumbed to her
husband’s sexual demands, was fastidious
with finances, [and] was an impeccable
homemaker” (Nelson 10).
8. RELATION TO MODERN TIMES
While Hammurabi’s Laws were relatively fair towards women during that
time period, they have been much improved upon since then. We still
have contracts and alimony, but no dowry is given, and women are no
longer tossed in the river for committing adultery.
9. GREEK TRANSLATION OF
PHOENICIAN ALPHABET
The Phoenician alphabet was introduced to Greece as
a means to record Homer’s epic writings.
There is a lot of speculation as to when the Greek
alphabet originated, but the main consensus agrees
that it may have been around the eighth century
(Petrariu 190).
Similar to the Phoenician alphabet, Greek is written in the
same manner, from right to left (Petrariu 191).
10. PHOENICIAN ALPHABET
It is very likely that the Greeks learned
to write at around the same time the
Arameans and the Hebrews became
literate (Petrariu 191).
The Phoenician alphabet only
included twenty-two signs (see
picture), and only contained
consonants, like Hebrew and Arabic
(Fiero 12).
It was the Greeks who contributed
vowels to the alphabet (Petrariu 194).
11. RELATION TO MODERN TIMES
Our culture uses the
alphabet every day. This
originated from all of the
alphabets before it, but is
now better as a result of
adaptation.
12. CUNEIFORM, HAMMURABI’S LAWS,
& THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET
It is truly remarkable to
see how these early
landmarks influenced
our civilization today,
and to see how far
we’ve come to adapt
them to our current
needs.
13. WORKS CITED
Fiero, Gloria K. Landmarks in Humanities. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill
Higher Education, 2013. Print.
Horowitz, Wayne. “Hazor: A Cuneiform City in The West.” Near
Eastern Archaeology 76.2 (2013): 98-101. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
Nelson, Lars. “When the Mesopotamian Honeymoon Ends: The
Code of Hammurabi’s Assumptions about the Roles of Spouses and
Problem-solving Approach to Regulating Marriage.” John Marshall
Law Review 46.4 (2013): 1055. Supplemental Index. Web. 28 Jan.
2015.
Petrariu, Julia. “Greeks, Phoenicians And The Alphabet.” Studia
Antiqua Et Archeologica 19. (2013). 189-197. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
