A woman was not considered equal to a man. This is clear in the laws regarding marriage. Women were contractually obligated to stay only with their husbands, while husbands were allowed to have a mistress or second wife. If a woman had been caught with another man, she would have drowned ("The Code of Hammurabi"). Another thing that proves that women were not equal to men is the fact that they could be sold into slavery by their husbands at any time. Women, however, had some rights such as the right to own property and the right to inherit and pass down that property. They also played very important roles in society. Some of these roles included shop owners, bakers, or scribes (Judge and Langdon,