In ancient Babylonian law, a full free citizen with certain legal rights and protections.
Akkadian word from ancient Babylon, preserved in historical legal texts like the Code of Hammurabi. The term distinguished the legal status of free persons from slaves and other classes.
The Code of Hammurabi literally had different punishments depending on your class—an amelu (free person) received different justice than a mushkenu (commoner) or wardu (slave). This word is one of humanity's earliest records of writing about legal inequality!
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