Que- Bring Out the Main Features of Babylonian Civilization.
Babylonian Civilization
The land between the Tigris and Euphrates was known as Mesopatamia. It is called Iraq now a days. In this region the Sumerican, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations developed respectively.
Brief introduction of Hammurabi:
The sixth ruler of Amorite dynasty was Hammurabi. He was the great conquerer of his era. He ruled about 42 years (2123-2081 B.C) Hammurabi was a great conquer and builder of the Babylonian empire. But he was not only a conquerer., he was an able administrator and a great scholar of Law. He come to know about his versatile genious through his code of Law. He was a hard worker disciplined and judicious ruler. Most of his time was spent in the welfare of his subjects. He gave more attention towards the trade commerce and industries and made new laws related to these. The animal husbandry was his natural quality, so he took interst in it.
Main Features of Babylonian Civilization
The main features of the Babylonian civilization are as follows –
Political System :
Administrative System:
The power of the king greatly increased during the time of Hammurabi. His autocracy and despotism constantly increased but the kings were not cruel and injudicious. For the administration of the state there was a council of ministers. The administration was divided in to many parts and the responsibilities of the departments was given to the minister for every department. King was having the right to appoint and removal of the ministers. The empire was divided in to many parts for the convenience in the administration. The provincial administration was handed over to the feudal lords, who were directly responsible for the king.
Code of Law:
The most important contribution of Babylonia is its code of law. The prevailing laws were being collected by Hammurabi and by making these convenient, changes were done by him and made a code of law. He inscribed it on the 8 feet high pillar in 3600 lines and it was installed in the temple of Marduk A. Shagil. Later the ruler of Susa picked it up and carried. This pillar was discovered by French scholar M.D. Margan.
The language of the code of Law of Hammurabi is not Sumerian but semetic. It has total 285 sections, which are sceintifically divided in to personal property, trade and commerce, family, crime and labour, chapters. The greatest feature of this code is that its laws are fully secular.
Justice and Punishment System:
Hammurabi applied a new code of law to make the laws suitable for all. The judges were being appointed by the king in the government courts and to prevent them from autocracy few local aged Persons of cities were to sit with them in the courts. There was also a system of appeal from lower courts to upper courts. The final appeal could be made to the king. Provision of Tit for Tat was there in the punishment system. The criminals were given punishments after thorow investigation. False witnesses were given strict punishments. Most of the crimes were judged by water testing and sacred oath.
Social System:
Social Organization:
The Babylonian society was divided in to three main classes Rich or upper classs middle calss and lower class or slaves. The people of upper class were called Avilam. In upper class the higher officers ministers, land lords and traders were included. This class was having all means of luxuries. The poeple of middle calss were called ‘Muskenam‘ in Babylon, were independent as upper class. The merchants, artisans, intellectuals and the state oficials, farmers and workers were included in this class was slightly in position than slaves. The third was the class of slaves who were called “Vardu” They were recognized as the property of their master. A tradition of branding them was there they had to wear a special dress. Even if they were having some protection of law.
Family Life:
The family Ife of Babylonia was patriarchal. The Life of the members of the family was disciplined by the law. Parents were having equal rights. Father used to be the head of the family and all the members of the family had to live under his strict discipline. The boys and girls were having equal property rights on the property of the family.
Position of Women:
The position of women in the Babylonian society was respective and they were having sufficient freedom. Their family and other rights were approved. It was necessary to give legal status to the marriage. A contract had to be written prior to the marriage. About divorce and remarriage, the decision was to be taken by looking on to the circumstances of the women. In the condition of divorce everyone had the right for demanding the livelhood allowance or substance. The women were allowed to do the trade or to join the state services. Alongwith all an adequate control was also there on the women. They were bound to live under men. Man could have more than one wives. The adultress women was given death sentence.
Food and Life Style:
The main food of Babylonian people was grains fruits, milk, meat and fish. The date liqore was drunk as wine. Men used to wear a long cloth under the waist. The women were covering the upper organs also. The aristocratic people used to wear the clothes of embroidary work. Men used to keep hair on the head and beared also. The women were keeping variety of hair styles. Women were more fond of ornaments. The enterainment was music and dance. People were using the musical instrument like, flute, trumpet, harp, drum etc. (Mashak, Khangari, Bansuri, Turahi, Veena, Dhol)
Religious Life:
The Babylonion people believed in many dieties. Thier main gods were An (Sky), Shamas (Sun), Sin (Moon), Bell (earth) Ningal (Wife of Moon) etc. Ishtar and marduk were main among new gods. There were separate god for fields and rivers.
The worship of goddess was also prevailing. Ishtar was their main goddess. She was worshiped as a creater of universe later considered as goddess of love. Tamuj was known as the god of vegetation. Initially Marduk was the god of agriculture later it was known as the god of storms.
There were many temples and idols in Babylonia, People were worshiping them and made variety of offerings before them. The priests were doing the work of worshipping god. These priests were of upper class of the society. Their life style was not simple they were living the luxurious life. Devdasis (dancing girls) in temples, tradition perverted them partially.
The Babylonian people were superstitious also. They more believed in predictions. They had faith in demons, magic practices etc.
The people of Babylonia were haivng faith in life after the death that is why they used to keep food articles and things of daily use with the dead body. Along with the burial the practice of fire sacrament was also in practice.
Economic Life:
Agriculture:
As in the other civilization agriculture ws the main source of livelihood of the people of Babylon. The land was very fertile. According to Herodotus, in comparison to Babylonia there was no other fertile territory in the world. The agriculture farming was done by plough and oxen. Every ruler of Hammurabi dynasty built the new canals for irrigation and renovated the old canals. To esacpe the land from floods, the damswere constructed. Whereever the surface of fields was upper than the cannals the irrigation techniques were used for irrigation. The Babylonian people used to give more importance in growing dates, olive and grapes alongwith food grains. The land was mostly under the king, temple, feudal lords and rich merchants and collertively under the tribes. The land was given on lease for cultivation. The farmers had to pay 1/3 to 1/2 part of the total production as state tax.
Hammurabi made strict rules about the sale of land he encouraged the people to cultivate the new land. There was provision of punishment for those who any how harms the agriculture. The taxes were exempted at the time of any natural calamity or famine. The state also used to give compensation for the encouragement of agriculture.
Animal Husbandry:
The second major source of the national income of Babylonia was animal husbandry. A big number of animals were reared and tax was also imposed on animals. Cow, Buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, donkey, mules etc were the pet animals. The ruling class and the king also engaged in large number of animal rearing. For the care of state animals the royal herdsmen were employed in the districts and cities.
The dishonest farmers and sheperds were given hard punishments according to code of law.
Industries:
The Babylonians used to get wooden, hair and leather from their animals in huge amount for their industries. Other than these spinning, weaving clothes, making pottery and idols, weapons of metal, ornaments, wooden articles etc, were the industries prevailing there.
Trade and Commerce:
Mainly the people of Babylonia were importing luxurious items, timber wood, lead, glass, copper, gold, silver. The food grains, weapons, metal tools, ornaments and idols were exported. Their trade relations were far up to sindhu region (Bharat) and nearest with Elam were since ancient times. The foreign trade was done by the business caravans. The camels and donkeys were used to carry the goods. The boats were also used where water roots were available. The currency system was yet not invented in Babylon. Trade was done by barter system or metal exchange. The trade deals were documented. The system of Bill and reciepts was also begun The trade associations were also developed in the society.
Art:
Architecture:
In the field of art the Babylonian society was far back from the contemporary civilizations, because there was lack of stones. So the houses were builty by raw bricks, which used to collapse in 50-60 years. The buldings made by hammurabi had been destroyed by now. In royal buildings the baked bricks were used. The wood was used in the roof, doors and windows. In the houses of rich people the coloured tiles were used for decoration.
The special examples of Babylonian art were the buildings known as ‘Jiggurat’. In the Babylonian Jiggurats many storeys were built, which becomes, gradually small in size towards the top. The Jiggurats are emagined as god’s places. These Jiggurats were made beautiful by colouring them with variety of colours.
Sculpture:
The Babylonian artists could not get the success to give the human beauty a practical shape. There is a lack of beauty and expression in their idols. Their idols are famous for their hugeness rather than artisticness. Their idols are mixed type of both animal and human shape.
Paintings:
The artists of Babylonia could not fully develop their painting. The paintings were made only for palaces and temples. The main subjects of paintings was wild animals and birds.
Music and Dance:
Babylonians were music lovers. In the big feast, the music parties were organised. Devdlassis or dancing girls used to dance and sing in the temples. Several types of musical instruments were used.
Script and Literature:
The babylonian people adopted the Sumerian cuniform script. In this script to know about the things, the pictures, symbols and signals were used. When it was confirmed that such a symbol or picture is cognitive to such a thing then it become easy to identify the particular object. But when the matter come to express the ideas, then the picture script was used. There were 300 word units nearly as symbols. To remember those was dificult. The beautiful hand writing was given honour. They used to write on the mud slates. The people’s spoken language was semetic. The priests were engaged in education work.
In the field of literature, the Babylonian contribution is considered very important. They composed the first class epic in the world named- ‘Girlgamesh‘ It’s subject matter is very interesting. Gilagamesh was the fifth ruler of the first dynasty of the Uruk state. The Babynonian people compiled his heroic deeds at one place and gave it a new shape. This epic is divided in to 12 chapters. which ssybolize the 12 months. The struggles of human life are described lively in the entire epic.
Apart form this epic the religiuns and ethical literature was also composed. The main subject of religious literature were the prayers and praise of the gods and goddesses.
Science :
Mathematics:
Being traders the babylonians were having more interest in behavioural science than art. Their calculation was based on decimal and hexametric system. In their number only three digits were having signs, one sign was for I number through which 1 to 9 numbers were to be written, just as to write 4, the number 1 was written four times. Second sign was for number 10 by which 10, 20, 30 were to be written. The third sign was for 60 by which 60, 120, 180, 240 were to be written.
Astrology:
The people of Babylonia were more interested in astrology. They considered jupiter to be Marduk, Mercary to Nebu, Mars to Nergel, Soma (moon) to sin, sun to Shamas, Saturn to Ninish and venus to Ishtar. But to know the mystry of planets and the activites of the dieties was not an easy task. This lore was only possesed by priests, which was used occasionally by them for their livelihood Astronomy:
In the field of astronomy the Babylonian people did the amazing progress. They could measure the duration of the day and night. They could tell the exact time of the sunrise and sunset. The divided an year in to 12 months. Their six months were of 30 days and another six months were of 29 days each. In this way their year was of 354 days. IN the 4th-5th year they used to add an additional month to match the sun and moon. Their clock cycle was of 12 hours. One hour was of 60 minutes and one minute was divided in to 60 seconds, which is prevailing every where in the world today. It is certainly the gift of Babylon.
Map Art:
The Babylonian people for the first time draw the maps of provinces and towns. In an inscription of 1600 B.C in Babylon the map of shat-Agalla proince in one square inch is found.
Medical Science:
At the time of Hammurabi the doctors came in to existance as a special class. Surgery was also came in existance. But because of the superstitious people they were having faith in priest, doctors and demons.
Contribution of Babylonia to the world:
In the creation of world civilization and culture the contribution of Babylonia is considered important in the field of polity feeling of divinity in kingship and assigning separate responsibility to ministers of the council of ministers was also the gift of Babylonia. Code of law was also written by Babylon.
In the social field the legal recognition was given to all the three classes of the society. Protection of women by law etc were done first in Babylonia.
In the economic field maintaining the account of the land, acccount of revenue collection. exemption of tax to the farmers by the state, paying compensation, deciding the support price etc are also the contribution of Babylonia.