Comparative Questions?

  1. How are the laws in Hammurabi’s code (Document 2-2) similar to or different from those in the Hebrew book of Exodus (Document 2-3)?
  2. What do the sources in the chapter tell you about the different ways in which the peoples of the ancient world saw the relationship between the individual and the divine? What do they tell you about the relationship between the state or ruler and the divine?
  3. How do the depictions of kings differ in Hammurabi’s code (Document 2-2), Ashur-Nasir-Pal II’s résumé (Document 2-4), and Cyrus the Great’s inscription (Document 2-5)?

James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3d ed. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), 315–316.