THIS IS A CLASS SET. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON IT!!
COMPARING ANCIENT CODES of LAW:
Hammurabi’s Code & the Ten Commandments
Hammurabi’s Code (paraphrased)
17. If any one finds a runaway slave in the open country and brings the slave back to his
master, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.
110. If a religious woman opens a tavern, or enters a tavern to drink, then this woman shall
be burned to death.
195. If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be chopped off.
196. If a man puts out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
197. If he breaks another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
198. If he puts out the eye of a former slave, or breaks the bone of a former slave, he shall
pay one gold mina.
199. If he puts out the eye of a man's slave, or breaks the bone of a man's slave, he shall
pay one-half of the slave’s value.
200. If a man knocks out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
201. If he knocks out the teeth of a former slave, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.
202. If any one strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty strikes
with an ox-whip in public.
203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay
one gold mina.
205. If a slave strikes the body of a free man, his ear shall be cut off.
209. If a man strikes a free-born pregnant woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall
pay ten shekels for her loss. If the woman dies, his daughter shall be put to death.
211. If a former female slave loses her child because a man struck her, he shall pay five
shekels in money. If this woman die, he shall pay half a mina.
213. If a man strikes the maid-servant of another man, and she loses her child, he shall pay
two shekels in money. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third of a mina.
215. If a physician make a large incision with an operating knife and cures the patient, or if
he opens a tumor over an eye with an operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall
receive ten shekels in money. If the patient is a former slave, he receives five shekels.
If the patient is the slave of someone, his owner shall give the physician two shekels.
218. If a physician make a large incision with the operating knife, and kills the patient, or
opens a tumor with the operating knife, and cuts out the eye, his hands shall be cut
off.
219. If a physician make a large incision in the slave of a free man, and kills the slave, he
shall replace the slave with another slave.
275. If anyone hires a ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs in money per day.
276. If he hires a freight-boat, he shall pay two and one-half gerahs per day.
282. If a slave say to his master: "You are not my master, and I will not do what you say!" his
master shall cut off his ear.
THIS IS A CLASS SET. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON IT!!
the Ten Commandments (paraphrased from the King James Bible; Exodus 20:2-17)
I am the LORD thy God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery.
1 You shall have no other gods other than me. You shall not make any kind of statue, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth.
2 You shall not bow down and worship any statues or images, for I, God, am a jealous God,
and whenever there is a father who does wrong against me, I will punish his children and
grandchildren, up to the third or fourth generation; I will show mercy to the thousands of
them who love me and obey my commandments.
3 You shall not use the name of God as a curse word; for the LORD will be angry with
someone who uses his name as a curse word.
4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days a week, you should labor, and do
all your work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it you should
not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servants, nor your
cattle, nor anyone who might be visiting your home.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day; when he did this, the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and made
it holy.
5 Honor your father and your mother: if you do this, God will allow you to live a long, long
life.
6 You shall not kill.
7 You shall not commit adultery.
8 You shall not steal.
9 You shall not lie.
10 You shall not wish that you had your neighbor's house, your neighbor's wife, nor his
servants, nor his livestock, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Assignment Part I: On your own paper, make a Venn Diagram (as
shown below). Use the primary source documents, your book,
and notes to fill in the Venn Diagram. You will need to have a
total of fifteen elements or bullet points, with at least one in each
section . List and DESCRIBE for full credit.
Assignment Part II: on the back of your Venn Diagram, write a 4-5
sentence paragraph to answer the following question—which of
the two systems was the best system of law for creating an orderly
society? Why?
Hammurabi’s
Code
Ten
Commandments