Child Slavery in Ancient Mesopotamia in the 3000 and 1000 BCE

Abstract

This paper aims to study the evidence for child slaves and child slavery in different ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia including Sumer, Old Babylon, and Uruk, dating back to the 3rd and 1st millennia BCE. It investigates the causes for the enslavement of children, the conditions of slavery and the laws enacted to regulate the process in the various ancient kingdoms and offers comparative examples of children in slavery throughout the civilizations under consideration. This is achieved through the investigation of the archaeological evidence as well as the testimonies of ancient authors. It also seeks to provide a framework for a future discussion that would lead to a better understanding of the role of infants and children and how they were influenced by the norms prevailing in the culture of the world they belonged to.