In addition to maintaining order, laws also protect individuals’ rights and their general safety. The laws are not mandatory. Those who do not follow the laws will face consequences. Hammurabi was one of two great ancient lawmakers. The other was Moses. Hammurabi, the Babylonian ruler from 1792-1750 B.C.E., developed the Babylonian culture along the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. Moses led the Hebrews to the Sinai Desert after he was commissioned by God. Although Hammurabi and Moses dealt with situations in different ways, they both share similar beliefs. They share similar beliefs about marriage, revenge, and theft. They share their views on marriage. Both the Hebrews and Babylonians viewed marriage as a “legal agreement”. They strongly believed there should be no sexual relations between a married woman and man. Those who violated these rules were punished severely. Hammurabi, Moses and other ancient philosophers had similar views on marriage. But there were differences. In Babylonian tradition, a married woman who cheated upon her husband was punished. If a woman is caught cheating on her husband, she will be punished. . . “, (Hammurabi, 129).
There is no punishment for men who cheat on their wives. In Hebrew society the husband is punished for adultery, unlike Babylonia. “If one man is caught sleeping in another man’s bed, both him and his wife must die.” . . “, (Deut. 22:22). The Mosaic laws allowed a husband to have multiple wives, but this was against the Babylonian law. Marriages were intended to be a way for couples to protect their property and have children. The Hebrew laws allowed a woman to be divorced if she did something that upset him or he didn’t approve of. It is enough for the man to hand her a divorce document and send her out. Hammurabi’s Code was more protective of the woman. Hammurabi’s Code also allowed for a divorce without any reason. If they had a baby together, however, she would be able to keep it, receive the dowry as well as use the property.
Both societies were against both adultery and incest. They were however not bothered by this, as they thought it was disgusting. Hammurabi’s main concern was to maintain a clear lineage. Moses, meanwhile, cared about the people’s sanctity. The Hebrews were against incest. In essence, the Hebrew society believed that any act that violated their morals was evil. The Hebrews would call such acts “defilement”. The defiling of the body was considered “abominable” and therefore horrific. The community would be affected both socially and spiritually if someone broke the law. Their beliefs about retaliation are also similar. In both cultures, people believed that a person’s actions towards another will be returned to him or her. Lex talionis is the Latin word for retaliation. The law is based on the idea that a punishment should be proportional to the crime committed. Hammurabi, 196) states that “If an individual has slashed out the eyeball of a patrician then his own eye will be slashed out”. Hammurabi code can be summarized by the Mosaic law when it is about retaliation. They both have similar ideas on what to do when someone harms another. The laws are not meant to punish or get revenge.
These laws aimed to protect people from harm and teach them to be more careful with their money. The laws taught people to treat others the way they want them treated. It is still a teaching rule today. The theft is the last thing that Hammurabi has in common with Moses. A thief was required to repay the person from whom he had stolen. Hammurabi, on the other hand, thought that a thief had to repay 10 or 30 times what they stole. “If patricians have stolen oxen, they must repay thirtyfold. Hammurabi says that if he’s a commoner, he will pay back tenfold. In Hebrew culture, a theft was not punished as severely as it would be in Babylonian. In Babylonian culture, the social standing of a person played a big role in determining how much a thief was required to pay back. If a thief couldn’t pay back the money he stole, he would be executed. This was to warn people against stealing. Particularly if you are unable reimburse the amount of money that they have stolen. The person who committed the robbery would be automatically executed if they were caught. Hammurabi and Moses had vastly different agricultural practices. In the Hebrew society, farmers were taught to take care of the poor. The land was left fallow…poors would gather the leftovers from orchards. Vineyards, and fields. The Hebrews were very caring towards each other. No matter how old or sick a person was, they were not to be treated poorly. Hammurabi did not include this compassion in his code. We can see that Babylonia had a wealthier, more urbane society. In Babylonia however, the rule was that everyone had to look out for themselves. If you couldn’t provide for yourself, then you had to make do with less. Theft was probably a huge issue.
In Babylonia farming was very important for the whole of Mesopotamia. “If the farmer was lax. . . . He had to replace what he’d lost (Wolf, 8). The goods of the farmer were sold by him to his neighbor because he could not replace his crop. It is clear how important farming was to the people of this region. Hammurabi’s Code and Mosaic Laws have many similarities but also some differences. In agriculture, they are very different. They share the same perceptions about marriage, revenge, and theft. Both societies had very harsh punishments, but this was how they kept order and made it more difficult for people to commit crimes. Hammurabi wanted to stop people committing crimes and Moses tried to rid society of evil.
The rules are not enforced, but the consequences can be so severe that people feel forced to obey them. Hammurabi was the leader of Babylonians and Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Hammurabi, the Babylonian leader, led the Hebrews from Egypt. Their mindsets were very similar, even though they came from two different periods. It was just that they used different methods to punish wrongdoers.
