Stele of Hammurabi Susa (present-day Shush, Iran). c. 1792-1750 BC Dirorite,Musee du Louvre, Paris.
I find it interesting that a society's code of conduct can be codified with approximately 300 laws. Also, I find it interesting that their laws and consequences could be communicated, along with an explanation of their source on a 7' engraving.
The one and only time I went to traffic court, the judge sitting about 5' above me reached down and lifted a HUGE book and turned to the page with the violation for which I was cited and started to read aloud . . . I was so astonished at the symbolism and attempt at intimidation that I instinctively and without a lot of thought turned into "T"erry Mason. My action in turned stunned the judge and he let me off with a minor scum lecture. Maybe I missed my true calling. I guess I'm a little off topic. My point is that I'm pretty sure our society's code of conduct is written in volumes and volumes. I think just the tax code alone would significantly exceed 7'!
I also find the classification and ratio of commercial and property laws compared to domestic and violent crimes fascinating. It appears business and commerce required government oversight and regulations way back then. I'd be interested to know if the our laws could be classified into the same three categories to determine how our ratio compares. I guess what I am learning in this class is that we humans in 2008 AD, in our core remain very similar to those who lived 10,000 years ago and through these artifacts, we can connect their past to our present.
Photograph of a Law Library State Capitol Building;
Des Moines, Iowa:
3 comments:
Comparing to the laws we have today, I can't help but wonder how much time and effort it will take for those Babylonians to carve all that out. Talk about job security...
Terri - thanks for sharing ...wow what an experience! There are still a few countries that use this as a basis for their laws. AS exceptional as the laws were they were also inherently skewed towards gender and class...meaning the law gave far more leniency to those that were men and to those that were of wealth...so in many senses we could wonder once again how similar or different our laws seem to be from that moment and culture in time...
Hi Terry,
I do remember you. I got your message on my blog. Yes, you should can just show up at the meeting or you can send a check to join to our treasurer. You can find her blog at http://highfibercontent.blogspot.com and email her that way. Bring some show and tell to the meeting and I am looking forward to hearing about the Gammill purchase. I had my first session on the longarm by myself yesterday. I think it went well.
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