Kentucky Grade 6 Social Studies

What does Hammurabi’s stele show, and what does it leave unanswered?

Open the Louvre’s catalog entry for the Code of Hammurabi, inventory SB 8. Use its image and Description section. The catalog identifies an inscribed basalt stele and a relief representing Hammurabi with the deity Shamash. This original activity asks how the object presents authority and how a modern museum’s interpretation differs from the ancient object itself.

Follow the reasoning

The object brings a royal figure, a deity, and written laws together. The Louvre identifies the figures as Hammurabi and Shamash and interprets their encounter as legitimizing the king’s authority and the justice decisions inscribed on the stele. That interpretation supports a focused claim about the presentation of political and religious authority. Attribute it to the catalog rather than claiming that reading the photograph alone reveals every figure’s identity or the full meaning of the inscription. The ancient artifact is a primary source from the civilization under study; the modern catalog supplies identification and scholarly interpretation. These layers work together, but they were created at different times and for different purposes.

Check the explanation’s limits

A presentation of authority is not proof that every person accepted the king’s power or that every judgment was enforced identically. The relief and brief catalog description cannot establish equal treatment for all groups. Nor should a student invent an English translation of a law from marks they cannot read. Those questions require an appropriate translation, its context, and additional evidence about legal practice. The catalog dates the object to Hammurabi’s reign, 1792–1750 BCE; that date range should not be turned into an exact engraving year. It also distinguishes the place of origin in Mesopotamia from discovery at Susa in 1901–1902. A later discovery location is not automatically the place where an object was made.

Try the next step

1. Describe one visible feature and identify the catalog’s explanation of it.
2. Write a claim about how authority is presented, naming the source of the interpretation.
3. Identify a question about actual legal practice that this evidence cannot settle.

Add a teacher-selected, credited translation of a specific law or another well-documented object from the same period. Record its source and context before comparing it with the stele’s presentation of authority. Ask whether it adds evidence about a different question, such as who was affected by a rule. Revise the claim only as far as the new evidence supports. Kentucky’s Grade 6 course examines river valley civilizations and classical empires from 3500 BCE to 600 CE. The selected government-and-religion reference fits this ancient case, while the evidence reference supports distinguishing primary and secondary sources. Broader course study also requires geography, economies, change, and other civilizations.

Connect the activity to further study

Selected course references: 6.C.CP.2, 6.I.UE.2. Read each complete benchmark before planning instruction.

Read the actual historical documents and context: Louvre: Code of Hammurabi, inventory SB 8. Keep later explanations distinct from the dated documents.

Choose additional practice for a concept that needs explanation. General lessons and quizzes can include review or enrichment beyond this course; match them to the school’s current topic.