The purpose of this research is to examine ways in which the Babylonian, Israelite, and Greek states maintained a condition of inequality and assured the persistence and protection of an elite class. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context for exploring the class systems of the ancient world and then to discuss the approaches that each society took to the project of preserving the social status quo, with a view toward suggesting the impact on ancient social practices on societies of subsequent historical periods.
The social order of Babylonia was derived from the Hammurabi Code, which was detailed and hierarchical in nature and which provided a rule of law in a well-defined class system. According to Pfeiffer, Babylonian society comprised three social classes. The awelum was the aristocratic class, comprising businessmen, feudal lords, large landowners, military leaders, palace bureau crats, and temple priests. The mushkenum, or middle class, com prised freedmen, small landowners, tenant farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. Wardum were slaves. Babylonian society appears to have been organized around issues of property and military activity, which suggests that the protections and obligations of the law mainly concerned the elite. However, the introduction to the Code describes Hammurabi as the champion of the downtrodden.
Warriors were of special significance in Babylonia. Many code provisions deal with land rights and restrictions, particu larly for military men. The code requires men to serve, and re fusal to serve is treason, punishable by death and deprivation of property. Conversely, those who do serve acquire royal protection and incur obligations toward the land. While the soldier is on a military campaign, for example, his wife and sons may manage his farm fields, but only on his behalf ; in other words, a soldier's land cannot be sold out from under him while he is away.
Limitations on women are emb...