The concept of peace in the culture of Mesopotamia
The peace term differs depending on several factors, such as the geographical and temporary location that are addressed. On this occasion, the concept of peace in the culture of Mesopotamia will be explained, known as the first civilization, which covered the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from prehistory to the fall of the last of its empires.
In the culture of Mesopotamia the gods were the ones who dictated laws to men, therefore, they were sacred. In this case, Samash, the God of Justice, delivered the laws to King Hammurabi of Babylon who intended to establish applicable laws in all cases to prevent his own justice from being taken, because without written laws, it was easy to act as moreConvinance. These laws did not distinguish between civil and criminal law, since they dealt with matters of everyday life and punish crimes.
Each civilization had its way to implement the value of peace in Mesopotamian cultures. One of the best known examples is the Hammurabi code of Babylonian culture, a document written in stone with laws that sought to maintain well -being among the population. The way in which the code speaks of preventing people from committing crimes and atrocities is through fair punishments, which used to be governed by the said "eye for eye", which could become literal;since it was believed that without justice there would be no serenity. Following these new rules, people began to fear the consequences of their actions, and, therefore, violent or evil purposes decreased.
With the last, we mean that it literally comes from there. The ancient Mesopotamia was governed by polytheistic religions, that is, it involves worship of various gods. The only remarkable difference here, compared to other cultures is the fact that the tribute to these entities arose thanks to fear. They considered their vindictive beings, so they always lived in the constant thought that if they were doing wrong, there would be a terrible punishment. With this, we reach the way of establishing laws and punishments to fulfill justice;There is a great probability that the religious sphere of the nation has been the main reason for making certain decisions.
The socioeconomic changes in conjunction with the position of the king against religion, by separating it from the State, the Hammurabi Code achieved the union of all political powers: legislative, executive and judicial;that is, political power over the religious prevailed. The presence of the code in the history of law is evident, and much of its content is used in laws of different cultures, such as that of Hebrews, Greeks and Romans.
Finally, based on the history of one of the first civilizations in the world, it is observed that intimidation and fear through violent acts and that at the same time gave justice, were the methods of deterrence to eradicate violence and preserve thesocial coexistence, that is, it was used to maintain what was known as "peace" in Mesopotamia.
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