science

History of rape

History of rape is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of rape rather than just read about it. In short: The concept of rape, both as an abduction and in the sexual sense (not always distinguishable), appears in early religious texts. Scholars of the Ancient Near East debate whether certain pieces of legislation regarding sexual offences from various states and cultures that have survived to the present day are about "rape" or about various other offences that the individuals involved may have consented to.

Key takeaways

History of rape belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect History of rape to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of rape from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The concept of rape, both as an abduction and in the sexual sense (not always distinguishable), appears in early religious texts. Scholars of the Ancient Near East debate whether certain pieces of legislation regarding sexual offences from various states and cultures that have survived to the present day are about "rape" or about various other offences that the individuals involved may have consented to. There are many literary problems that make interpretation of these sex laws difficult, as the meaning of words depend on the context, and the laws often do not provide information about what the people (especially the women) involved in the acts wanted or did not want, and were more concerned about which combinations of individuals were illegitimate in view of the social order. They tended to focus on what a man might do to/with a woman he was not married to, especially if this resulted in the loss of virginity, regardless of whether she consented to it or not. Consequently, one scholar may interpret a law as being about rape, while another scholar concludes it is about consensual adultery, premarital sex etc.

Mesopotamia According to Scholz (2021), the only law in the Code of Hammurabi (composed c. 1750 BCE) that scholars universally agree relates to rape is § 130:

šum-ma a-wi-lum aš-ša-at a-wi-lim ša zi-ka-ra-am la i-du-u-ma i-na bit a-bi-ša wa-aš-ba-at u-kab-bil-ši-ma i-na zu-ni-ša it-ta-ti-bil-ma iș-șa-ab-tu-šu a-wi-lum šu-u id-da-ak zinništum ši-i u-ta-aš-šar If a man force the (betrothed) wife of another who has not known a male and is living in her father's house, and he lie in her bosom and they take him, that man shall be put to death and that woman shall go free.

This law is similar to §6 of the Code of Ur-Nammu from Sippar (c. 2100–2050 BCE), and §26 of the Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BCE). The latter has also been compared to Deuteronomy 22:25–27 by Craig S. Keener (1996), who considered both of them rape scenarios; it states the following:

26. If a man gives bride-money for a(nother) man's daughter, but another man seizes her forcibly without asking permission of her father and her mother and deprives her of her virginity, it is a capital offence and he shall die. Another provision, generally regarded as a marry-your-rapist law, is found in §55 of the Middle Assyrian Laws (c. 1450–1250 BCE):

55. In the case of a seignior's daughter, a virgin who was living in her father's house, whose [father] had not been asked (for her in marriage), whose hymen had not been opened since she was not married, and no one had a claim against her father's house, if a seignior took the virgin by force and ravished her, either in the midst of the city or in the open country or at night in the street or in a granary or at a city festival, the father of the virgin shall take the wife of the virgin's ravisher and give her to be ravished; he shall not return her to her husband (but) take her; the father may give his daughter who was ravished to her ravisher in marriage. If he has no wife, the ravisher shall give the (extra) third in silver to her father as the value of a virgin (and) her ravisher shall marry her (and) not cast her off. If the father does not (so) wish, he shall receive the (extra) third for the virgin in silver (and) give his daughter to whom he wishes. Similarly, several provisions in the Hittite laws (also known as the 'Code of the Nesilim'; developed c. 1650–1500 BCE, in effect until c. 1100 BCE) are usually categorised by scholars as dealing with either incest, adultery or bestiality; § 197 is the only undisputed rape law:

197. If a man seizes a woman in the mountain, it is the man's crime and he will be killed. But if he seizes her in (her) house, it is the woman's crime and the woman shall be killed. If the husband finds them, he may kill them, there shall be no punishment for him. Because the Hittite word for 'woman' in this case does not indicate any status, such as whether she is married or unmarried, widowed, free or enslaved, the law seems to have referred to all women in general, and thus that raping a woman was always a crime, not just when she was married or engaged. In some rare cases, ancient laws did consider the (lack of) consent of a person (particularly a woman) involved a relevant factor in determining whether or not a sexual offence had occurred. Examples include §190 and §191 of the Hittite laws, and §12 of the Middle Assyrian Laws (this one involves a combination of lack of consent on the one hand, and force on the other).

Hittite laws §190. 'If a man and a woman come willingly, as men and women, and have intercourse, there shall be no punishment. (...)' Hittite laws §191. 'If a free man picks up now this woman, now that one, now in this country, then in that country, there shall be no punishment if they came together sexually willingly.' Middle Assyrian Laws §12. 'If, as a seignior's wife passed along the street, a(nother) seignior has seized her, saying to her, 'Let me lie with you', since she would not consent (and) kept defending herself, but he has taken her by force (and) lain with her, whether they found him on the seignior's wife or witnesses have charged him that he lay with the woman, they shall put the seignior to death, with no blame attaching to the woman'.

Ancient Israelites

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of rape

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of rape claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of rape before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of rape ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of rape

In research: History of rape appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of rape in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of rape is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics History of human sexuality, Rape, Social history, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of rape outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of rape in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of rape means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain History of rape out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is History of rape in simple terms?

Why does History of rape matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of rape?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of rape.