An Eye for an Eye

INTRODUCTION

Every day you obey (or disobey) laws. Have you ever thought critically about our legal code? Why do societies have laws at all? What purpose do the laws have? Do you or does somebody else gain power through the laws? Do the laws bring justice to the society? For thousands of years, nomadic tribes and villages existed without written legal codes. In the eighteenth century BCE, King Hammurabi conquered many cities and villages. He established a sizable empire. See map. As Babylonian society grew more complex, it became harder and harder to control and protect every person. In 1780 BC King Hammurabi of Babylon created a legal code for his kingdom and had all 282 laws and punishments carved in stone. The stone was clearly placed in a public area. This is humanity’s oldest found written legal code.

In this WebQuest, you will work with a team of reporters for a Babylonian newspaper. Using the public policy analyst you must evaluate Hammurabi’s Code and decide if it was the best way to create a prosperous, lawful and just society. In so doing, you will learn about Babylonian daily life and the Babylonian conception of justice. Teams will present their newspapers to the class.

Task

You are reporters for ancient Babylonian newspapers. You will each contribute at least one piece to a department of the newspaper. Think about writing your article on:

· high-profile trials

· news analysis of political events

· natural disasters and other emergencies

· crime watch

· Dear Abby

· Political cartoon

· Opinion/editorial

You will use the public policy analyst to give your article substance and import. After all, the contribution must include factual information about, and comment on, Babylonian society and justice. In addition to using resources, you must use your imagination. You will work in groups of 3-4. Each individual will briefly present their contribution to the Babylonian newspaper in front of the class.

Process

Skim Hammurabi’s Code. In your groups, each student will select a minimum of one law on which to focus. You may elect to do more than one law, but it is strongly suggested to pick laws that deal with the same aspect of Babylonian life, e.g. divorce.
Use the public policy analyst skills to deeply investigate your selection from Hammurabi’s Code.

What issue in Babylonian life does the law attempt to rectify? Define the social problem
How do you know that the identified problem really exsisted?

Use resources link to obtain documents

Gather evidence to support the existence of the problem

Why is there a problem?

Determine the causes and factors contributing to the problem

Was Hammurabi’s Code the best solution to the problem?

Evaluate the policy

Choose a reporting format to convey your findings to the general Babylonian public. Select a format that works well with the problem and law that you picked. For example, if you choose a law about what happens if someone is adulterous, write a “Dear Abby” style column.

Resources

Read Hammurabi’s Code.

Read about the ancient Babylonian Empire, Babylonia.

Read about Emperor Hammurabi.

Evaluation

The following rubric will be used to grade your newspaper article:

Global History Project Rubric

	Exemplary 4	Satisfactory 3	Developing 2	Beginning 1	Score 100%
TIMING	Completed before the start of class	Completed on due date but after class	Completed 1 day late	Completed 3 or more days late	15%
CONTENT Facts, opinions, details, examples, and other relevant information	Content is accurate, comprehensive, informative, and relevant; goes above and beyond all requirements of task.	Content is mostly accurate. Includes some details and examples. Content mostly stays on topic- satisfactorily meets requirements of task	Content is somewhat complete & accurate. Includes few details and examples. Almost meets requirements.	Content is incomplete & inaccurate. No details and examples -doesn’t meet requirements of the task	30%
ORGANIZATION Ideas and information are clearly communicated.	The format of your newspaper article is perfectly matched to your law selection. Content is organized in a unique, clear, logical way. Ideas are easy to understand. Good flow.	The format of your newspaper story is appropriate to your law selection. Content is mostly organized in a logical way. Ideas are understandable.	The format of your article is not very appropriate to your law selection. Content is somewhat organized. Some difficulty in understanding ideas.	The format is inappropriate for your law selection. Content is unorganized.	25%
APPEARANCE Visual presentation, neatness, illustrations	Newspaper is very neat. Layout is interesting and well planned. Includes many appropriate diagrams, maps and illustrations.	Newspaper is very neat. Layout is acceptable. Includes some appropriate diagrams, maps and illustrations.	Newspaper is neat. No thought to layout. Few diagrams, maps and illustrations.	Messy. Layout is confusing. Very few diagrams and maps. No illustrations.	15%
MECHANICS Spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, bibliography	None or very few errors. Shows effort to edit. Easy to read and understand. Bibliography is correct.	Some minor errors. Shows some effort to edit. Understandable and readable. Bibliography is mostly correct.	A number of errors. Little effort in editing. Bibliography is flawed. Some difficulty in reading.	Many errors in basic mechanics. Shows no effort to edit. Difficult to read. No bibliography.	15%

You will be downgraded for late work (see above). Projects will not be accepted more than five days late!

Standards

Social Studies Standard 2, World History:

Key Idea 1: The study of world history requires an understanding of world cultures and civilizations, including an analysis of important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions. This study also examines the human condition and the connections and interactions of people across time and space and the ways different people view the same event or issue from a variety of perspectives.

Key Idea 3: Study of the major social, political, cultural, and religious developments in world history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

ELA STANDARD 3

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Conclusion

After completing your Babylonian newspaper and reading other groups’ newspapers, you will understand how historians use legal codes to learn about different civilizations, including the problems their populations face in daily life. You will also learn specifically how the Babylonian King, Hammurabi, attempted to solve the diverse problems that plagued his ancient society. Finally, you will have synthesized information from different documents to produce an original work.