Was America Founded On Christianity (Part 4 of 5)
 In the Beginning: The Code of Ur-Nammu (Mesopotamia 2,100-2,050 B.C.E.) Although earlier law codes existed, such as the code of Urukagina , Ur-Nammu's code is the earliest that we have a copy of. Others have been paraphrased in writings that still exist, but the actual codes have not yet been found. One of the unique things that had developed by this time was the concept of IF (crime) THEN (punishment). This pattern was followed in almost all later law codes. The code is also considered remarkably advanced because it institutes monetary compensation for bodily harm as opposed to the later "eye for an eye" principle. It also had certain crimes listed as capital offenses including murder, robbery, adultery by both men and women, and rape. These concepts of monetary compensation for harm are rather prevalent in our own laws. But we have softened our definition of capital crimes to just murder, and even then only premeditated murder. The prologue, typical of Mesopotamian law codes, invokes the deities for Ur-Nammu's kingship, Nanna and Utu, and decrees "equity in the land". "…After An and Enlil had turned over the Kingship of Ur to Nanna, at that time did Ur-Nammu, son born of Ninsun, for his beloved mother who bore him, in accordance with his principles of equity and truth... Then did Ur-Nammu the mighty warrior, king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, by the might of Nanna, lord of the city, and in accordance with the true word of Utu, establish equity in the land; he banished malediction, violence and strife, and set the monthly Temple expenses at 90 gur of barley, 30 sheep, and 30 sila of butter. He fashioned the bronze sila-measure, standardized the one-mina weight, and standardized 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 man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina." One mina ( 1/60 of a talent ) was made equal to 60 shekels ( 1 shekel = 8.3 grams ) . Among the surviving laws are these: The Laws of Ur-Nammu that we know of are listed below. Those in Yellow with Green Background are enforced with present day laws. Those in Red are illegal by todays laws. Blue is for that if enforced by law would be illegal but can be done by the individual if they so wish. Gray is reserved for comments. 1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed. 2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed. 3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver. 4. If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free, he does not leave the household. 5. If a slave marries a native (i.e. free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner. 6. If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male. 7. If the wife of a man followed after another man and he slept with her, they shall slay that woman, but that male shall be set free. 8. If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin female slave of another man, that man must pay five shekels of silver. 9. If a man divorces his first-time wife, he shall pay (her) one mina of silver. Divorce laws even today mostly require equal distribution of assets and child support. 10. If it is a (former) widow whom he divorces, he shall pay (her) half a mina of silver. 11. If the man had slept with the widow without there having been any marriage contract, he need not pay any silver. (8) 13. If a man is accused of sorcery he must undergo ordeal by water; if he is proven innocent, his accuser must pay 3 shekels. Filing a false police report is illegal. 14. If a man accused the wife of a man of adultery, and the river ordeal proved her innocent, then the man who had accused her must pay one-third of a mina of silver. (11) 15. If a prospective son-in-law enters the house of his prospective father-in-law, but his father-in-law later gives his daughter to another man, the father-in-law shall return to the rejected son-in-law twofold the amount of bridal presents he had brought. Although frowned upon. There is no law saying a girl/boy cannot marry someone their parents pick out as long as they are of legal age. And the rest - well, giving gifts is common. 16. If [text destroyed...], he shall weigh and deliver to him 2 shekels of silver. Unknown because the text is gone so we don't know what it is about. Not counted as one of the 28. 17. If a slave escapes from the city limits, and someone returns him, the owner shall pay two shekels to the one who returned him. 18. If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out ½ a mina of silver. 19. If a man has cut off another man’s foot, he is to pay ten shekels. 20. If a man, in the course of a scuffle, smashed the limb of another man with a club, he shall pay one mina of silver. 21. If someone severed the nose of another man with a copper knife, he must pay two-thirds of a mina of silver. 22. If a man knocks out a tooth of another man, he shall pay two shekels of silver. 24. [text destroyed...] If he does not have a slave, he is to pay 10 shekels of silver. If he does not have silver, he is to give another thing that belongs to him. 25. If a man’s slave-woman, comparing herself to her mistress, speaks insolently to her, her mouth shall be scoured with 1 quart of salt. 26. If a slave woman strikes someone acting with the authority of her mistress, [text destroyed…] Body guards allowed to protect. 28. If a man appeared as a witness, and was shown to be a perjurer, he must pay fifteen shekels of silver. 29. If a man appears as a witness, but withdraws his oath, he must make payment, to the extent of the value in litigation of the case. 30. If a man stealthily cultivates the field of another man and he raises a complaint, this is however to be rejected, and this man will lose his expenses. 31. If a man flooded the field of a man with water, he shall measure out three kur of barley per iku of field. 32. If a man had let an arable field to a(nother) man for cultivation, but he did not cultivate it, turning it into wasteland, he shall measure out three kur of barley per iku of field. Of Ur-Nammu's 28 known laws, 18 (64%) are enforced in our laws, 9 (32%) are illegal in our laws, and 1 (4%) is not illegal but the government can't make you do it. As you can see by reading these laws, the concept of civil laws created to address the harm someone does to another human was coded long before the Abrahamic Torah (Old Testament) or the Christian Bible. And also note that in these earlier law codes there was a punishment defined for each crime. And in the Abrahamic 10 Commandments there is no punishment involved. So, if you killed someone there would be no mandatory punishment. In comparison, 16% of the Abrahamic laws are enforced in our laws, while 64% of Ur-Nammu’s are enforced. And Ur-Nammu wrote laws which had punishments and were transgressions against others, while few Abrahamic laws were prohibitions against harming others and few had punishments and mostly tell people how to live their personal lives.
The laws of America are much more like the laws of Ur-Nammu than the Abrahamic laws.
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