Hailey Jenkins

Ms. Mauk

ENC 2135

10 October 2016

 

An Eye For an Eye: The Role of Revenge in ancient Babylon

 

I started my research with the question: What was the role of revenge in ancient Babylon/Mesopotamia (time of Hammurabi’s code of law). This lead me to find out what exactly Hammurabi’s Code of Law was. After I found out what that was, I wanted to find out more about Babylon in that time, so I searched for the style and role of government in, the culture, geography and class system in Babylon, and what was going on, historically, at that time. After this, I looked up the role of revenge in various cultures, not just Babylon. I want to connect the role of revenge in different cultures so I can compare it to Babylon. I also researched the sociology of revenge. I wanted to see how the practice of revenge affects a culture. Does it benefit a culture to have strict consequences, or legal revenge, or does it hurt it? Lastly, I looked up some modern laws that were related to revenge, both to try and prevent revenge, or to encourage revenge. I also wanted to see how Hammurabi’s laws affected our legal system today.

 

I think I was pretty good about covering all my possible bases as far as research, but I do see some holes. For example, I should research some specific stories from that time that showed the legal revenge process in action, or I could look up an in-depth analysis of Hammurabi’s code. I should also look for articles on the psychology of revenge, like how someone is physically affected when they get the revenge that that think they need. This would be helpful because psychology leads to sociology. Knowing how an individual is affected by something can be a big help when you’re studying sociology. Also, I want to know why, if we know that it won’t give us the satisfaction we want, do we still seek revenge.

 

Next in my research, I will read all of my sources to find any possibly important information for this paper. While I am doing this, I will make a list of what I find. When I’m all done, I will take the list I made and try to find any final research holes. Then, I will begin my first draft.

 

 

Works cited

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Jacobsen, Thorkild. "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2.3 (1943): 159-72. Print.

KAPLAN, ROBERT D. "The Revenge of Geography." Foreign Policy.172 (2009): 96-105. Print.

Lyon, David G. "Notes on the Hammurabi Monument." Journal of the American Oriental Society 25 (1904): 266-78. Print.

McMahon, Augusta. "Hammurabi of Babylon." Journal of the Economic & Social History of the Orient 56.3 (2013): 530-2. Print.

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Webb, David. "A 'Revenge' on Modern Times: Notes on Traumatic Brain Injury." Sociology 32.3 (1998): 541-55. Print.

Weinraub, Bernard, and Warren Hoge. "Trying to Restore a Functioning Legal System to the Land of Hammurabi's Code." New York Times 152.52459 (2003): B6. Print.