Code of the Assyrians

The theme of my recent reading assignment is related to the Code of the Assura or Assyrians which dates back to 1075 BCE.  The Assyrian Code served as the principles by which the people lived and guided their lives. The greater part of the code describes what punishments were to be exacted on a man or woman who committed infidelity. The primary intent of the code was to put a stop to indecent, sexual acts.  In addition, the code described what is to happen if a woman became a widow and how she was to be cared for.  As seen in the code, the Assyrians placed a great deal of importance on both the protection of woman and the sanctity of marriage.

There are two ideas noted in the code that I believe are pertinent for our culture. These are noted in I.12 and I.18.  The key phrase in I.12 is, “at the word of the woman … the elders shall prosecute him, [and] they shall put him to death…” this pertains to a situation in which a woman claims she was raped by a man.  The main idea in I.18 is if a man says "They have had intercourse with [my] wife; I will prove it," followed by if he “be not able to prove it, and does not prove it, on that man they shall inflict forty blows, a month of days he shall perform the king's work, they shall mutilate him, and one talent of lead he shall pay.”

These two concepts deal with the notion of equal rights for men and woman; however, in most of the laws, women received much more protection.  The Assyrians wrote numerous laws based upon situations where a woman could be harmed.  Further, they noted what course of action should be taken against a man who committed one of these harmful acts.  In the two sections I noted, one should notice the difference between the word of a man and the word of a woman.  This seems unusual to me as it represents something quite different from many other cultures including ours at times.

In considering the parallels between the Code of the Assyrians and our culture today, I immediately note the matter of adultery.  In our culture, the consequences of adulterous behavior are not as serious as they were for the Assyrians.  In other modern cultures, however, those caught in adulterous behavior can still be shunned and even stoned.  As I consider the Assyrian Code I also note the importance of protecting and honoring women.  While this guideline is not held by everyone in our culture it is embraced by the vast majority.  For example, most people are more likely to stop on the side of the road to offer assistance to a woman rather than to a man as it seems people are more conditioned to help a woman than they are a man.

 This relates to the spirit of the Assyrian Code which was written to protect and honor woman. Ironically, this protection didn’t reach into every realm of a woman’s existence.  In many instances women enjoyed fewer rights and were considered and treated as though they were nothing more than trophies or objects.