Texts in Conversation
The Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu includes laws protecting the poor, orphans, and widows, and promotes fairness through standard weights. Exodus echoes this by requiring care for widows and orphans, showing how early Israelite traditions were influenced by Mesopotamian ideas of justice.
Share:
Code of Ur Nammu
Ancient Near East
By granting immunity in Akkad to the maritime trade from the seafarers' overseer, and to the herdsman from the "oxen-taker," the "sheep-taker," and the "donkey-taker," he set Sumer and Akkad free. At that time, he established standardized weights and measures. He fashioned the bronze silé-measure, standardized the one mina weight, and set the stone-weight of a shekel of silver in relation to one mina. The orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the poor man with one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina. If a man plants for another without the owner's knowledge, he must bring in the produce.
Date: 2100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Exodus 22:22
Hebrew Bible
21 “You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
Notes and References
"... one may cite as a royal contribution to Sumerian literature the oldest collections of casuistic law, that is, laws formulated in conditional sentences (if X, then Y). These collections are attributed respectively to the kings Ur-Nammu of Ur (or his son Shulgi) and Lipit-Ishtar of Isin. In the Bible, casuistic legislation, most notably the Book of the Covenant in Exodus 21–24, is attributed to God. Nevertheless, the individual clauses in the Bible are thoroughly reminiscent of the Sumerian formulations in a number of cases ..."
Hallo, William W.
The World’s Oldest Literature: Studies in Sumerian Belles-Lettres
(p. 671) Brill, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.