How Did Laws Develop In Ancient Mesopotamia?

Law has affected Ancient Mesopotamia in many ways. For our socials studies project we were asked to make a poster that shows step by step how law developed and how it has affected us.

We can compare this to present day because law teaches us how to be good, civilized. The Code of Hammurabi, the commonly used law in Ancient Mesopotamia followed the saying, “an eye for an eye”. For example, if I killed your son, you can kill my son in return. Nowadays our laws are more fair, for example you kill someone, you’re sentenced to jail for a lifetime with no chances of getting out. The laws are quite similar, you are still punished for your wrong doings, but in the present today you are still served a lifetime in jail, whereas in the past your wrong actions are returned to you.

In conclusion, laws have taught us right from wrong and made us civilized. Without laws we’d be reckless human beings. I think laws have guided us and helped us throughout our whole life.

How the Environment and Geography affected Mesopotamia and Their People

We had a project to make a map that interprets and shows us how early Mesopotamians lived and how the geography and environmental factors affected them.

The environment and geography affected Mesopotamians in many ways. Here are a few ways. Water has the greatest influence among the environment. Many Mesopotamians lived off of water, and many settled communities were made near lakes and rivers for water supply. Water has a big affect on Mesopotamians because it provides food, like fish to hunt, it was also used for transportation.

Minerals is another factor, people mined minerals from below Earth’s surface, it is usually found near mountainous regions, humans usually mined minerals such as, gold, silver, iron, copper and tin. People used these minerals to create weapons and tools and other items. Vegetation is the last factor. People use grassy areas and using the environment to create items such as, tools, weapons and building materials. Depending on the climate, there were various of plants that humans used as a food source.

Doing this project made me realize how early Mesopotamians adapted to their environment and how it affected them in many ways. Mesopotamians were quite clever settling communities in appropriate area and using various minerals from the environment for tools, weapons and building materials. This project showed me how the environment and its factors can affect a civilization, it even affected us today.

The Ride

Universal Studios… I knew I’d have fun at this amusement park. Many adrenaline rushing rides, I’d have an adventure of a lifetime here! For the first few hours my family and I went on one or two rides,, just a simple roller coaster, we also ate at food stands. Though, there was this one ride that made my brother and I curious. It amused us, it caught our eye. We couldn’t see what the ride was, but it looked exciting! It caught our eyes, a REALLY long line-up.

This ride was not shown from the outside, but I was curious, then, my mom allowed us to line up. It was long, the wait was about two and a half hours long probably. As we drew near, I could finally peek at the ride! The ride was like a 3D simulator, it seems as if you’re in an actual car-chase-extravaganza, but really it’s special effects plus a whimsical ride. It was a simple blue car. Probably seated about eight people, it couldn’t be that bad, right? Though, as the last people that rode came back, they seemed shocked. I could hear screams from the people who were sent off to the next ride. My stomach started to churn, what if this ride was BIG? What if it was like a gravity-defying roller coaster? Without noticing, about 1 fifteen minutes had passed, and I was buckled into the seat, just ready to be sent of to my death. Based on the previous customers, I started to doubt the ride!

Maybe it wasn’t that bad… We started to roll and it seemed calm for the first few seconds, until the effects started kicking in. I see spiderman! In the movies, spiderman is shown protecting civilians from villains, it was exactly that scenario at this very moment. Spiderman has appeared sweeping us up and down, twisting and turning..! Man, it was really a gravity defying ride! I held onto the bars that hopefully secured me. The ride was full of screams, twists and turns.

After the ride, I was quite dizzy, I had lost a bit of my focus. My throat was dry, due to all my high-pitched screams. It was a crazy experience, though I thought it was my death, it was actually kind of fun. I never really been a big fan of spiderman, but maybe this ride changed my view of it, I also think I cured my fear of falling and heights! Overall, it was a scary, but it helped me in ways and it was truly a virtual reality.

The Convention on the Rights of a Child

Everyone has the right to live in a safe world. Everyone has the right to have fair treatment if you break the law.

This human right is about how everyone has the right to live in safety. People have the right to have fair treatment if you break the law. Nothing too harsh, but a harmless, but fair treatment if you break the law.

I chose this law because in the Breadwinner, Parvana and Shauzia walk into a stadium and they spot many men getting a gruesome punishment by cutting their hands off because they stole something. In my opinion, this is a very cruel punishment.

This right was violated because if they stole something, valuable or not, cutting off their hands is a very gruesome punishment. No one deserves such a cruel punishment, but maybe spending time in jail for a few months or so would be a fair.

If you put yourself in Parvana and Shauzia’s shoes, just watching many men getting their hands chopped off, their blood splattered everywhere. This is a very harsh punishment and no one should ever experience that. Although these men committed these crimes, I don’t they deserve such a harsh punishment. I am happy and lucky to live in a safe country, like Canada. I pity those who are suffering in Afghanistan, experiencing war, and reading the Breadwinner I really connected with Parvana’s story.

How am I connected to those in the past?

We all have a string from our past that connects us to our future. We were introduced to a new project; our assignment was to create a timeline taken aback 20 years or more to reflect on our family events before and after you were born, and world events.

One important family event was when my mom came to Canada in 1991 to work as a nanny, and she became a care-aid and met my father and had my brother in 1998. Since my parents were busy working at the time, they decided to bring their family to Canada and sponsor their sisters to become a nanny for Brian, this turned out well, and because of that our family has a lucky future here in Canada.

Some events that changed our lives, well multiple ones, in the Philippines there are many typhoons whirling around the city unexpectedly, in 2013 one of the biggest typhoons, typhoon ‘Yolanda’ hit the Philippines nearly killing and injuring thousands of people. That was one of the biggest typhoons and there are many more and some hit our provinces, so maybe if my family stayed in the Philippines, we would experience the hardships with typhoons.

So that concludes how I am connected to those in the past, how my past life began when I was born and how it affected my future life.