Compare And Contrast The Code Of Hammurabi And Greek Art

The Ancient Near East and Ancient Egypt were tremendously cultural and religious in different aspects, but still shared some similarities in organized societies and religion. Through works of art that were left behind such as the Code of Hammurabi and Palette of Narmer, historians could understand and interpret civilization and society of the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Both cultures were polytheistic and depicted their kings and gods through means of art that included symbolism, weapons, and the use of a hierarchal scale. Art in both cultures was highly regarded as they represented much of interlaced religion and government along with royalty. As the Ancient Near East used cuneiform writing, Ancient Egypt used hieroglyphic writing which was

Through cuneiform writing from a stylus on the stele, it displayed and announced a code of people’s rights, duties, and punishments that were based on the wealth, class, and gender of an individual. Not only was the Code of Hammurabi a work of art, but it left historians a real document that depicted the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi enacting a code of belief on his kingdom bestowed by Shamash, the god of law, justice, and salvation. Hammurabi is seen standing in a stance of prayer before Shamash on the high part of the stele which uses the hierarchical scale. Shamash is shown giving the law to Hammurabi as there are inscriptions and entries in-between the prolog and epilog. However, most of them only address commercial and property matters while few cover domestic and physical assault punishment. Although the Code of Hammurabi granted citizens their rights and laws, the wealthy were more favored than the poor. Legislation that stood out the most were punishments were equally based on the severity of a crime. In some instances, these sanctions were too severe, but Hammurabi’s foundation of regulating these laws and punishments were impactful and vital to an organized society and