As the cultivated nations of Antiquity sprang from inferior tribes, it
is only natural that in their social life many of the habits and customs
of prehistorical times survived. Nowhere was this fact more evident than
in the status of women. Everywhere we find a strange mixture of the rude
conceptions of the dim past and promising prospects for a brighter
future. In many places women were still regarded as inferior creatures,
subjected to the will of men and with no rights whatever over their own
persons. We also note that polygamy, barter, rape, slavery and
hierarchical prostitution still flourish in all kinds of forms and
disguises. But at the same time we are surprised to see that among
certain nations the members of the fair sex enjoy already the same
respect and almost a similar amount of rights and liberty, as our women
possess to-day.
Modern archæologists are inclined to recognize those formerly fertile
lands between the Persian Gulf and Asia Minor, and watered by the
Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, as the “Cradle of Civilization,” or the
place, where in misty ages, before history began, the so-called
Sumerians, a Semitic people, first attempted to form themselves into
organized communities. According to the traditions of the Hebrews here
was the original home of the human race, the “Garden of Eden,” and here
was, as is told in Genesis XI, “that men said one to another: ‘Go to,
let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let
us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the
whole earth.’”
This city was called Babylon, and the country =Babylonia=. Wonderful
stories and legends are connected with these two names, but still more
astounding are the revelations unearthed by the pick and shovel of
modern explorers. By their diligent work it has been discovered that the
people, living in this region somewhere about 4,000 to 6,000 years B. C.
were already a highly organized and civilized race, skilled in various
trades and professions, and living in towns of considerable size and
importance. The inhabitants of these cities were by no means awkward in
the fine arts. Most important of all, they had already evolved a very
complete and highly developed system of writing, which in itself must
have taken many centuries to reach the stage at which it was found by
the explorers.
As may be read in the elaborate works of Maspero, Hilprecht and other
explorers, they discovered in the ruins of the principal cities of
Babylonia several ancient libraries and archives containing thousands of
tablets of clay, stone and bronze, covered with inscriptions of
religious, astrological and magical texts, epics, chronicles and
syllabaries. There are also contracts; records of debts; leases of
lands, houses and slaves; deeds of transfer of all kinds of property;
mortgages; documents granting power of attorney; tablets dealing with
bankruptcy and inheritance; in fact, almost every imaginable kind of
deed or contract is found among them.
The most precious relic is the famous Code of Hammurabi, King of
Babylonia. This collection of laws, engraved on stone 2,250 years B. C.
and now preserved in the Louvre, is so elaborate and systematic that it
can hardly have been the first one. Back of it there must have been a
long period of usage and custom. But it is the first great collection of
laws that has come down to us. In 282 sections it regulates almost every
conceivable incident and relationship of life. Not only are the great
crimes dealt with and penalized, but life is regulated down to its most
minute details. There are laws on marriage, breach of promise, divorce,
desertion, concubinage, rights of women, purchase-money of brides,
guardianship of the widow and orphan, adoption of children, etc. Through
these laws we gain full information about the position of women in
ancient Babylonia. Three classes of women are recognized: wives,
concubines, and slaves. From other sources we know that all women of the
higher class were cloistered in the harem and never appeared by the side
of husbands or brothers in public. The harem system, at least for
Western Asia and Europe, most probably originated in Babylonia.
The National Geographic Magazine of February, 1916, gives the text of a
love letter, written several thousand years ago and sent by a young man
to his sweetheart. It reads as follows: “To Bibea, thus says Gimil
Marduk: may the Gods Shamash and Marduk permit thee to live forever for
my sake. I write to inquire concerning thy health. Tell me how thou art.
I went to Babylon, but did not see thee. I was greatly disappointed.
Tell me the reason for thy leaving, that I may be happy. Do come in the
month Marchesvan. Keep well always for my sake.”
In the same place we find the following example of a marriage contract:
“Nabu-nadin-akhi, son of Bel-akbe-iddin, grandson of Ardi-Nergal, spoke
thus to Shum-ukina, son of Mushallimu: ‘Give me thy Ina-Esagila-banat,
the virgin, to wife to Uballitsu-Gula, my son.’ Shum-ukina hearkened
unto him and gave Ina-Esagila-banat, his virgin daughter, to
Uballitsu-Gula, his son. One mina of silver, three female slaves,
Latubashinnu, Inasilli-esabat and Taslimu, besides house furniture, with
Ina-Esagila-banat, his daughter, as a marriage-portion he gave to
Nabu-nadin-akhi. Nanâ-Gishirst, the slave of Shum-ukina, in lien of
two-thirds of a mina of silver, her full price Shum-ukina gave to
Nabu-Nadin-akhi out of the one mina of silver for her marriage-portion.
One-third of a mina, the balance of the one mina, Shum-ukina will give
Nabu-nadin-akhi, and her marriage-portion is paid. Each took a writing
(or contract).”
This document, written on a tablet of clay, is signed by six witnesses
and the scribe.
As Professor Clay explains “it has been the custom with most peoples in
a large part of the ancient as well as the modern Orient to base a
betrothal upon an agreement of the man or his parents to pay a sum of
money to the girl’s father.” In Babylonia this “bride-money,” together
with the gift of the father and other gifts, formed the marriage-portion
which was given to the bride. There were prudential reasons for this
practice. It gave the woman protection against ill-treatment and
infidelity on the part of the husband, as well as against divorce; for
if she returned to her father’s house she took with her the marriage
portion unless she was the offending party. If she died childless, the
marriage-portion was divided among them.
In case the girl’s father rejected the suitor after the contract had
been made, he was required to return double the amount of the bride
price. The betrothals took place usually when the parties were young,
and as a rule the engagements were made by the parents. A marriage
contract was necessary to make a marriage legal. In some cases peculiar
conditions were made, such as the bride’s being required to wait upon
the mother-in-law, or even upon another wife. If it was stipulated that
the man should not take a second wife, the woman could secure a divorce
in case her husband broke the agreement.
Concubinage was indulged in, especially when the wife was childless and
she had not given her husband a slave maid that he might have children.
The law fully determined the status of the concubine and protected her
rights.
At the husband’s death the wife received her marriage-portion and what
was deeded to her during the husband’s life. If he had not given her a
portion of the estate during his life, she received a son’s share and
was permitted to retain her home, but she could marry again. A widow
with young children could only marry with the consent of the judge. An
inventory of the former husband’s property was made and it was intrusted
to the couple for the dead party’s children.
If a man divorced a woman, which he could do by saying to her “Thou art
not my wife!” she received her marriage-portion and went back to her
father’s home. In case there was no dowry, she received one mina of
silver, if the man belonged to the gentry; but only one-third of a mina
if he was a commoner.
For infidelity the woman could divorce her husband and take the
marriage-portion with her. In case of a woman’s infidelity, the husband
could degrade her as a slave; he even could have her drowned or put to
death with the sword. In case of disease, the man could take a second
wife, but was compelled to maintain his invalid wife in his home. If she
preferred to return to her father’s house, she could take the
marriage-portion with her.
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