Child Abuse in the Ancient Near East

Sadly, child abuse has gone on in all human societies since the beginning of time.

The first known case of child abuse in ancient Egypt was discovered recently when the body of a child was examined and found to have multiple broken bones that had clearly happened at different times.

We also know from Hammurabi's Law Code that daughters were mistreated by their own fathers. Law 154 states that a father will be banished from his city for having sex with his daughter, and laws 155 and 156 provide for punishment of men who have relations with their daughter-in-law.

While we often view ancient civilizations through their artwork and monuments, we should not forget that these civilizations were made up of many people who had the same positive, and negative, behaviors as people today. Some things have not changed throughout human history.