Code of Hammarubai

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Jonathan Jeffryes Code of Hammurabi vs The Ten Commandments The two primary documents I chose to examine are some of the oldest documented sets of rules ever found. The Code of Hammurabi and The Ten Commandments are known as the oldest codes of laws ever written. There are many similarities and differences between these two documents such as the context they were written in, their affect on culture and religion, and their survival throughout history. I will be looking at the historical differences of when these were both written, how they have affected our world today, and how they have furthered my understanding of the historical periods in which they were written. The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest documents of its kind, dating back to 1772 BC. It addresses topics mostly concerning contracts for work and household relations. This set of rules is quite harsh in penalties with many infractions calling for torture, decapitation, exile, and death. Some rules such as “If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off” seem very harsh but at the time, not much was thought of it. The Ten Commandments differs vastly from Hammurabi’s laws though. These biblical commandments supposedly given to Moses by God outline the general ethics and guidelines of humanity and have played a large role in Christianity and Judaism since. Instead of a series of hundreds of practical laws, the Ten Commandments are more general outlines for morally acceptable behavior. They both are very interesting to look at due to their similarities in time periods in which they were supposedly written for. The contexts of these two texts do differ in a few aspects, but for the most part they are pretty similar. The Code of Hammurabi says "If a man puts out the eye of an equal, his eye shall be put out." while the Torah version is: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot
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