Hammurabi Themes

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The theme that is present throughout the three sources is the junction of modernity and antiquity. The sources being utilized to explore the topic of this paper are The Code of Hammurabi, which acts as the primary source when discussing the theme as well as two secondary author’s interpretations, summarized, including “The Age of Hammurabi” by James H. Breasted, which focuses on the context and painting a literary picture of the time frame of Babylon and “A Modern Hammurabi” by Sabatino Moscati which reveals the unique nature of the Code of Hammurabi for the time period. This overview aims to provide a look at the societal and intellectual crossroads which the Code represents.

The Code of Hammurabi presents itself in a typical, orderly fashion …show more content…
Breasted in his piece “The Age of Hammurabi” aims to provide an analysis of Hammurabi’s letters to give context for the time frame as well as the significance of his laws. Breasted gives an overview of the rise and background to Hammurabi’s reign to show his nomadic ancestry and how these affect his more traditional practices and laws and his more modern, fair ones. By using the letters, the author proves this by showing Hammurabi’s “nomad instinct” (Breasted, 16) coming through by holding a sheep shearing festival but also the revolutionary practice of having an accused member of society petition before a series of judges for their innocence. Additionally the laws were made to appeal to justice and fairness throughout Hammurabi’s kingdom as made clear by his statement of judging them by his own sense of equality. Breasted concludes by stating the main theme throughout the laws by showing the higher placement in society of women and the poor contrasted by the more archaic “eye for an eye” …show more content…
He discusses the interesting juxtaposition of the laws, which are written in an ancient Sumerian format and follow more typical guidelines and the introduction of new concepts to society such as a middle class between slaves and aristocracy. While no statements are made as to how closely these laws resemble modern ones, there is a focus on abject newness. Additionally, there are no accusations or critiques on the aforementioned “eye for an eye” laws, but rather simply taking all aspects of the Code in consideration. The analysis thus follows the same theme present throughout the all three sources, by closely analyzing each individual facet of the laws to provide and accurate sense of the system of justice put into place and it’s affect on
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