World History: Ancient to Renaissance

Week One: Assessment 1

Part One: Written Records and Early Evidence

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it seems as though the people were more fearful of the gods and what they were capable of unleashing against them. All the things pertaining to life for the people then had a god who was in control and mortals were at their mercy. The gods not only controlled nature like, storms, wind, and of course the flood, but love, harvests, and last but not least death. Mortals were more or less considered just animals and not able to think or act without a god intervening and the god’s will was the influence on the people whether it was good or bad. To appease the gods, especially when things were going bad, sacrifices were performed. Idols and structures were made representing the different gods showing their devotion and obedience to that particular god or gods.

Spark Note: The Epic of Gilgamesh: Themes, Motifs, and Symbols.

Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gilgamesh/themes.html

Part Two: Mesopotamian Marriage Contract, 1700 BCE

The early forms of Marriage contracts were set up to protect males and their assets. Women were considered more as property than a mate. The man would pay a father for his daughter but if the daughter could not produce a child within a given time, the man had the right to dispose of his wife as he chooses. If he divorces her, he pays her a minimal amount of silver and if she divorces him, she must pay the same. Marriage was not just to one woman. Slave woman and other woman were also under marriage contracts. If women could not produce a child they were to no use of the male and replaced. Although crude to our standards now, I believe this system served a positive purpose for the times. It basically limited women from having children out of wedlock and being possibly ridiculed or outcast from that society as was the same...