Ishmael Takeaways

Ishmael is an African American male from Sierra Leone, approximately 14-16 years old upon his arrival at the Benin Home a psychosocial therapy treatment center in Sierra Leone. He arrives with several other boys, but no identified family members, no relationship status. No particular religious affiliations but does describe some form of cultural spirituality. Medical examination shows no significant nutritional or physical abnormalities. No identified residence, as such deemed homeless.

22:24) This contrasts Hammurabi’s focus on keeping promises. The 159th law of Hammurabi’s code is an example of this: “If a man, who has brought a gift to the house of

The Code of Hammurabi is one of history’s oldest and best – preserved written law which appeared in Mesopotamia around 1760 BCE. “It consists of customary norms that were collected toward the end of his reign and inscribed on a diorite stela set up in Babylon's temple of Marduk, the god of Babylonia. The 282 chapters include economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), as well as criminal law (assault, theft) and civil law (slavery, debt). Penalties varied according to the status of the offenders and the circumstances of the offenses. ” These laws considered words which sent by the Sun god Shamash to Hammurabi. Therefore, people believed that as long as they obey the laws, then they obey the god’s words.

When reading and interpreting biblical law, there are several important features to consider. First, there should be an understanding of the nature of law (“Lecture 1,” 2015). Torah, or תּוֹרָה, is the Hebrew word translated for “law” (Vogt, 2009). Its meaning refers to ‘instruction” or “teaching,” much different than the contemporary world defines the law. Moreover, it carries a “theologically centered” (Vogt, 2009, p. 26) teaching, providing for the ancient Israelites guidance in how to live in such a way that is pleasing to God (Vogt, 2009). Rather than looking at the law from a legalistic approach as is common today, it is important to understand that the Israelites received the law as a gift from God (Psalm 119:111, NIV) upon their deliverance from Egypt.

Romans 2:14-15, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse

It is critical for a kingdom to have a strong set of laws, even in today’s time. These laws help the kingdom to thrive,

They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.” Even though we all differ in cultures, we all have the law written in our hearts. All of us made in Gods image and therefore even if we do not have the law we all know what is right and wrong.

“We have a moral responsibility to disobey any law that conflicts with the law of god.” (Paragraph 16)

Hammurabi was a leader that ruled 38 centuries ago. He created “Hammurabi’s Code” which is a set of laws that he claims was given to him by Shamash, the god of justice (Document A). The code was “written in wedge-shaped cuneiform letters that have been carved into the stone” (Document A). The laws on the stone were split into three groups: family law, property law, and personal injury law. For every crime that broke the law, there was a punishment, and some punishments were harsher than the others.

Laws have been around since the beginning of civilization. While today most countries are pretty ‘laxed compared to ancient Babylonian times, some countries, particularly the ones in the Middle East, still have strict laws similar to Hammurabi’s Code. In today’s society Hammurabi’s Code may be viewed as a little excessive; however, for the time they were written, i find these laws to be justifiable. Hammurabi’s Code was fair to the less fortunate. He ensures equality of people with justifiable punishments for crimes people have committed which are best highlighted through his family care, property, and personal injury laws.

The law codes of the United States are based on the Ten Commandments and various standards that humanity has conceived throughout history. However, before Moses climbed Mount Sinai and “the Lord descended upon it with fire”, the First Babylonian Empire in ancient Mesopotamia was ruled by Hammurabi, who developed the earliest known law code in world history (Exodus 19:2-25; class discussion, 08/29/17). Hammurabi’s Law Code, as it is known today, could be thought of as an early interpretation of morality. Despite the good moral intentions of the law code, these laws are strict, cruel, and, in some cases, unusual. With over two hundred laws, divine right, the act of revenge, and inequality of punishment between classes took up a large amount of this ancient Babylonian law code.

Have you ever had a run in with the law? Well if you have, be thankful you don’t live in 18th century BCE, or you might not have survived the punishment for your crime. Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon for 30years, but ruled most of Mesopotamia for 12 more. In the 38th year of him ruling, Hammurabi had 282 laws carved into a stele; they were called Hammurabi’s Code and they were the written laws for the civilization. On the stele, which is a large, pillar-like stone, is a carving of Hammurabi standing before the god of justice seated on his throne, Shamash, who is instructing Hammurabi in the law.

Based on Ishmael’s many MANY violent experiences, it turns out violence doesn't just affect one person or just have one victim. It affects not only the victim, it affects the people that witnessed it, the victim's’ family/relatives,the victims’ friends and community members. It may not affect them directly but it’d still hurt them emotionally and psychologically because they have lost a friend, brother or sister, or child. In this tale, violence never had only a sole person affected, it was always a chain reaction/spider web of people affected. Violence causes chaos and a feeling of unease and fear among communities and villages even miles aways. Violence even causes concern among communities oceans away (for example the United States with

Rarely is there enough information about ancient cultures to satisfy contemporary interest. This is especially true of ancient Egypt and particularly of ancient Egyptian law. The civilization that left so many grand edifices dedicated to its gods and kings left little evidence of the laws those gods and king laid down. This dearth of evidence paired with the absence of a written code of law makes some scholars skeptical of speaking of Egyptian law as law in a proper sense (Théodoridès 291). But if one reviews what we do know about this aspect of ancient Egyptian society, the missing code fades away as a problem even if it does not evaporate completely.

When reflecting on significant members of ancient times, Hammurabi and Moses symbolize substantial advancement in the creation of laws. Hammurabi of Babylon introduced his code centuries apart from Moses and his laws for the Hebrews; however, there are similarities shared between the two. Several reasons can be distinguished as to what accounts for the comparison within each set of laws. Along with having an abundance of similarities, the differences shared between the two are also evident. To understand the similarities and differences analyzed in this essay, each set of laws will be compared regarding the treatment of parents, marriage, dishonesty in court, class-systems, importance of agriculture, and the customs of each civilization. The time period, culture, and geographic location are responsible for the similarities and differences of Hammurabi’s Code and The Law of Moses.