How Did The Law Code Of Hammurabi Compared To The Ancient World

The world view that developed in the Ancient world, as shown in Hammurabi’s Law Code, was that rulers at the time were either divine, or divinely appointed and that was why they deserved respect. This is also demonstrated by the Egyptians and their worship of the Pharaoh as a god. However, this started to change during classical world Greece, as shown by many thinkers of the time, including Aristotle’s The Politics, as well as in the play Antigone, by Sophocles. The world has changed significantly since it began, but the separation of religion and politics was one of the first major view point changes, affecting the way people saw the world and consequently impacting the world because of it. As a contrast to the Ancient world, Classical

In Hammurabi’s Law Code, Hammurabi clearly stated that he was appointed to the position of leader by the gods. “…then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land…” The people of the land also respected him because they believed this as well; otherwise they would not have followed him. This was also the case in Egypt, the Pharaoh and, to a lesser extent; the royal family were treated like gods. Backman said this about how religious was used in Old Kingdom Egypt; “Even its religious life proved to be another aspect of pharaoh worship.” It was believed due to local mythology in Egypt that gods Isis and Osiris gave birth to the god Horus, who became the ruler of the world. Furthermore, it was said that “Every Pharaoh was thus believed to be a new incarnation of Horus, the god himself walking the earth.” This shows that, in Egypt, the pharaoh wasn’t simply a god appointed ruler, he was in fact a god himself. This added to the significance of the reverence that people would show the pharaohs, believing it not only to be a societal obligation to obey him, but a religious one as well. The joining of religious belief as well as political in the ancient world helped provide the rulers with a more concrete grasp on their

Using Sophocles’ Antigone, which describes a plot where Antigone, the main heroine, must choose between obeying the king, or obeying the gods, we can see that the culture beginning to change. The demonstration of this concept in the play shows that they were starting to think there was a difference between the divine authority of the gods and the king’s authority. Antigone said to her sister when discussing who to obey, the gods or the king; “But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honor.” Ismene responds, in defense of the state “I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.” Antigone wanted to bury her brother, claiming it would be against the laws set down by the gods if there were to leave him on the street as the king decreed. Ismene was afraid of the persecution that the king would bring upon both of them if they did try to bury him. Antigone later said when the king asked her why she defied