Problem
A. Harshness and violence were a part of life in the ancient world so Ha mmurabi's Code fits with that. But that is also what we expect to see when we look into the past, so reading his code satisfies our assumptions. However, there is little actual evidence that these laws were carried out. The surviving court records don't show the codes. Also there is so much that we know to have been legislated that is missing from the Code itself. What would it mean for our understanding of history if we learned that "An eye for an eye" never really happened?
B. Based on the excerpts of The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis, how did the geography and climate of Mesopotamia affect the Sumerian version of the story?
C. Do you think the Egyptians were obsessed with death or are we obsessed with their seemingly bizarre treatment of it?
D. As the first historian, how well does he manage to separate his own biases and assumptions from his discussion of the Persians? What can we learn about the Persians? What can we learn about the Greeks?