Hammurabi’s historic profile

The founder of the Paleobabilonic empire, Hammurabi, according to historian Ciro Flamarion[1] reigned in Babylon from 1792 to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi was an Amorite, a Semitic origin, unlike the previous kings of Acadian descent[2].

Hammurabi was a skilled administrator and a politician centered in pacts and alliances that resulted in the independence and the structuring of a military base capable of generating various territorial conquests. With patience and persistence became sovereign over the central and southern Mesopotamia[3] and over slightly more than forty years in power, dominated almost all Mesopotamian territory.

Governors and senior officials designated by him watched and determined all segments of Babylonian society, transferring to the palace, the administrative and political center of Babylon[4] and of the conquered territories. Responsibility that was previously entrusted only to the temple.

Hammurabi was not concerned only with the administration and policy of his kingdom, which had problems on the high cost of living, in high density[5], the constant maintenance of a hydraulic society, characterized by artificial irrigation and drainage. Weighed on him a responsibility to promote justice, against the practice of various crimes against the person, family, public property and private sectors.

The deity’s representative monarch formulated a legal code that regulated the society in order to establish justice and peace in his kingdom. This remarkable code has absorbed the influence of earlier codes and also served as a source for several codes later.

Although his dynasty’s heirs there haven’t continued successfully the succession. Hammurabi was a king who was victorious in recorded history, was crowned king a fair and protective. We conclude that the real sense of unity in Mesopotamia took place under the rule of Hammurabi.

 

[1] Flamarion, Ciro Cardoso, Brazilian, is post doctor of  History and professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense.

[2] Antonius Gunneweg describes the ability of groups to infiltrate nomadic Semites in Babylonia. P. 35

[3] Bouzon, Emanuel. As Cartas de Hammurabi. 1986. P. 26.

[4] Bouzon, Emanuel. O Código de Hammurabi. 1980. P. 16. The author has translated into Portuguese the Code and the letters of Hammurabi.

[5] Antonio Joaquim is a historian and Doctor of Letters, and member of the Portuguese Association of Economic and Social History, he describes the problems encountered by Hammurabi in consolidating his rule. P. 47.

 

Bibliographical References:

Bouzon, Emanuel. As Cartas de Hammurabi. Petrópolis: Editora Vozes, 1986.

______________. O Código de Hammurabi. Petrópolis: Editora Vozes, 1980.

______________. Uma Coleção de Direito Babilônico Pré- Hammurabiano. Petrópolis: Editora Vozes, 2001.

Cardoso, Ciro Flamarion. Sociedades Do Antigo Oriente Próximo. São Paulo: Editora Ática, 1991.

Gunneweg, Antonius H.J. História de Israel. São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 2005.

Santos, António Ramos dos. A Babilónia dos Caldeus – Uma caracterização socioeconômica. Lisboa: Edições Colibri, 2003.

Did you know …

That in 1976, the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1315-1223 BC) was attacked by fungus and had to leave the Cairo Museum to be examined by experts in France. When getting off the plane, the mummy received the honors for the Heads of State and even went so a special passport issued by the Egyptian government?

Mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II - Cairo´s Egyptian Museum

The Roman Imperial Power

The first feature of Roman imperial power was the willing to take risks. Since he would weave his aspirations in a tangled set of interests. The candidate should have total efficiency in its imposition, using his image and rhetoric.

The emperor was an aristocrat with absolute power and the element of his power was sovereignty. He lived in constant ambivalence, was elected to be the most powerful man, the more it cost him a permanent vigilance against traps and murders. This constant care was to guarantee the continuity of his government.

First Roman Emperor Augustus.

The Roman Republic was not property of the emperor, he was up to his tutelage. The human and natural resources did not belong. His power was to administer, as a herd in motion. The art of shear to peel the skin. So could continue shearing.

It was necessary to maintain the image of the republic since it was the backbone, the pillar. The paradox of a constructed reality, despotism masked by the collective interest, since the emperor was the representative of the community with the mission supposedly granted by the people, graduated senators and legions. In fact, what I would refer this consensus was the efficiency of its imposition.

The Caesars and the gods were a step above humanity. And they were omnipresent, occupying several spaces at once. This brought the theoretical connotation that people walked towards the emperor. Next were actually their representatives, and the people owed them obedience. The emperor was away, the historian Paul Veyne [1] shows the Roman imperial power so great as remote.

This superiority of the Caesars aroused in social relations prudence in worship them. Clearly the gods gave himself a religious cult. The Caesars were not seens as gods, nor were representatives of God, even though he was of the pontificate. The all-powerful emperor was absolute, resided with his cult was not in the ways of religion, but of power, a worship building, more accurately, a cult of coaxing.

 

[1] Paul Veyne French historian and archaeologist, professor of Roman history at the College de France.

Did you know…

Bar Mitzvah

Many people nowadays know what does mean a ceremony of Bar Mitzvah: a neighbor, a relative, an invitation… you hear about it… And over the years, many now know the purpose of this ceremony. Really?!

Bar – which in Aramaic means son – and mitzvah – which in Hebrew and Aramaic translates into command. So the son of the commandment is leaning on the concept of appropriation of Jewish education, with the main cultural tool, all the principles of Jewish traditionalism.

During the ceremony of Bar Mitzvah, the young man of 13 who, in Jewish culture is already considered mature for the first time puts the tefillin, and also the first time, is called to the Torah reading. The same Torah that governed the behavior of the boy reaches the hands of man for its first reading.

It is confirmed then the trajectory of Jewish education: working and character development with the transmission of values and ethical behavior contained in the Talmud and Torah, coupled with the improvement of basic skills like reading, interpretation, writing, development of logical reasoning, etc.. Are some of the elements that pervade the 13 years of a young Jew.

Egyptian archaeologists located two graves 2,500 years

from Efe in Cairo (Egypt)

According to a statement published by the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt today, were found in the archaeological site of Saqara two tombs built 2,500 years ago, as they are the oldest found on this site.

Complex archaeological Saqara, with the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser in the background

The mausoleums have several corridors, rooms and halls, and pictures on their walls. In the inside there have been found bones, ceramic pots and mummies of falcons that are in good condition, according to the note. Also there are rooms still full of building materials and land and a well depth of seven meters.

The General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zawi Hawass said the tomb was used in more than one occasion and was pillaged in the fifth century a.C. Hawass was pleased with the new findings, because these would be evidence that the region still “holds many secrets.”

Funeral rites, in Judea

By the first century BC, in Judea, the burials were made in a kind of a cavity carved in the rock with banks to receive the body. These small complex-shaped gravestones finger were particularly expensive, which shows that they were of use of rich families. The wealthy had enormous tombs carved into the rocks, shaped like a rectangular room containing niches. The body could be placed in or out of the coffin, each opening in the rock was closed and the tomb was also sealed with a round stone.

Stairs to the individual graves in the catacombs rocky Bet Shearim, near Haifa, first and second centuries CE

In Rome the bodies of wealthy Jews were placed in sarcophagi in marble, in the Hellenistic Alexandria the bodies of Jews and Egyptians were placed in coffins made of wood usually with fine paintings on the cover.

In the first century a.C. it was customary during the mourning, too much crying, regret and tear of clothing. This period lasted thirty days, and for three days there was total restriction of work. The most religious are not washed and wore dirty clothes, to express their grief. The coffins were made of expensive materials, covered with garlands of flowers. After the ceremony of burial was the common meal of condolence.

In Judea, by the time of the second temple, it was common to leave the body on the stone bench for years, until only the skeleton, which were wrapped in linen and anointed with oils and scents were then tied as the Egyptian mummies and happened a second funeral. Where were buried in the soil or deposited the bones.

Before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, the bodies were washed and anointed with perfumes and usually buried with their clothes more expensive, made with fabrics. The magnificence of the tombs that were similar to underground villages, and ostentation in funeral rituals, led to the indebtedness of many families of the time.

These exaggerations were a paradox in relation to the burial of the poor causing a situation of embarrassment. The poor began to abandon their dead, waiting for charities to bury them. (Ausubel, 1989, p. 766) “What started as a social vanity of the rich, had become a social evil of all people. Patriarch Raban Gamaliel II was deeply disturbed because it seemed that death becomes almost a forbidden luxury for the poor. “

Inscription in Greek and Latin on a stone tablet found in Rome and saying: "Here lies Barzaharona Tobias and his son Parecorius." Two menorot the word shalom in Hebrew identify the deceased as Jews, first century CE

To put an end to the excesses funeral, Rabbi Gamaliel determined that everyone should be buried in the same way, with linens raw, unadorned. And he left explicit instructions to be buried wrapped in a shroud of ecru, cheap. Bible texts report that the bodies were wrapped in shrouds with feet and hands bandaged.

During the funeral procession the male relatives carried the coffin, and women walked in front of mourning; the procession was accompanied by flute players.

The great mass of poor people were so anonymous living and dead and were buried in the Valley of Kidron, a cemetery for the indigent, the procession accompanied by two players, recorders, many poor people were burned.

The concerns of Jews with the funeral rites is like a concern of other people in ancient times, funerary artifacts found in ancient Judea in excavations by archaeologists have shown an analogy to the Egyptian tombs. There are signs of influence in the funeral rites also Phoenicians, Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. What follows that funeral rites were a valuable structural element in antiquity.

 

Reference List:

Ausubel, Nathan. Conhecimento Judaico. Rio de Janeiro: A. Koogan, 1989.

Connolly, Peter. Vivendo nos tempos de Jesus de Nazaré. Israel: Steimatzky, 2000.

Goodman, Martin. A classe dirigente da Judéia. Rio de Janeiro: Imago, 1994.

INTERVIEW – Professor Ronaldo Silva interviewed Professor Rita Barros

By Prof. Ronaldo

INTERVIEW – The professor and researcher at the CPA Ronaldo Silva interviewed Rita de Cássia Barros Professor of Sociology and African Studies at UNICAMP.

“First of all I want to thank for the honor of being invited to this interview for the Research Center of Antiquity with Jerusalem Cultural Center and have the interviewer my former student, Professor. Ronaldo Silva.”

 

WHAT IS the ACADEMIC AREA THAT YOU ARE working with at THE MOMENT?

I am working with Contemporary History, African History and International Relationships.

HOW IS YOUR PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA?

I pay advisory in human development and social policy to African governments and I am the director of the Muxima Foundation for the development of Africa.

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE AND STUDIES IN AFRICA TO BRAZIL?

My work has been the following: I am the Director of the Africa Human Development Consulting and International Relationships, we work directly with that continent and I am the Director of the School of Diplomacy DIPLOMAT. Furthermore, I am a college professor, and usually I am responsible for the Chair of Contemporary History and History of Africa.

At this- moment we are launching a post-graduate in African Studies: Human Development and Teaching, with optional stage in Africa, the only post in African Studies in Rio de Janeiro. If anyone is interested, you can write to sejadiplomata@isep.com.br. It will be a pleasure to serve them.

WHAT ARE THE MEASURES TAKEN TO PROMOTE AN EXCHANGE BRAZIL- AFRICA?

Some measures to which I have some information are due to agreements between Brazil and some African countries. Some agreements provide for transfer of technology and cultural exchange and other measures, however, arise through partnerships with institutions that motivate private investment in Africa and student exchange.

EXPLAIN THE REASON IN TAKING A LOOK IN BRAZIL FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN CULTURE here?

First I think there is some pressure from the Federal Law No. 10639, 2003, which determines that the study of African history, African people and black culture in Brazil in the curricula of elementary schools and high schools.

Another reason, in my opinion, is due to the fact that the academic community is increasingly aware that this History of Africa, created by Western colonizers, has to be reviewed urgently and this has motivated the knowledge of African literature and African authors.

Professor Rita Barros

WHAT IS THE REASON THAT WHEN we STUDY “EGYPT” WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE NOT SEEING AFRICA AS A WHOLE?

I believe this sense, already old, to find that Egypt is not part of Africa or a place that is part of the continent, is due to an error of pedagogical teaching and learning, in my opinion.

How do tou see the focus on “EGYPT”?

I believe that the focus on Egypt rests on the fact that we have more information about this society than the rest of the continent.

It is KNOWN BY HISTORY, THE OPERATION DEVELOPED BY THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, for the SETTLEMENT, DUE TO THE MARITIME EXPANSION IN THE 16th century followed by THE 20th  CENTURY IMPERIALISM and TAKING A DEFICIENCY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFRICAN CONTINENT. TODAY WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROSPECTS FOR THE AFRICAN CONTINENT?

From what I’ve seen and heard because I have lived in Africa, there is a great expectation about the growth of the continent. For the pride of Brazil, which has been a leader in peripheral countries. Also there is now a pool of mega-companies that are creating subsidiaries in Africa. Thus, the prospect of investment seems to be great, however, the social contradictions and extreme poverty that exist in Africa put these perspectives in check.

The SOUTH of AFRICA is well done ECONOMICALLY speaking, enphasizing YOUR CAPITAL JOHANNESBURG. WHAT LEADS SOUTH AFRICA TO THIS PLACE FEATURE? AND WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE REST OF THE POOR CONTINENT?

I personally do not agree with this idea that South Africa is well resolved economically. There is much poverty and social difference in this country and what the media show is usually a small portion of the population, including white, living in the capital of South Africa with a more stable life.

Follow the second part of the interview of Professor Dr. Rita Barros next Friday 19/03/10 days.

Did you know…

By Prof. Cristiane Pereira de Jesus

Who was the father of Alexander? Jupiter or Philip from Macedonia?

Philip from Macedonia, father of Alexander, looked through the keyhole, and saw his wife (Olympics) making love to the god Jupiter who was lying on the bed of the couple, in the form of a snake. After viewing the infidelity the king became blind.

Alexander himself built this history in order to legitimize its power through a divine inheritance. It was common to seek a divine birthright to consolidate the legitimacy of the leader’s power.

Bust of Philip of Macedonia

According to Plutarch, Alexander told this story to your friends. His mother never complied with the attitude of his son to put it in an awkward situation, she always denied this story repelling all these falsehoods before the deity.

Philip II of Macedon - on horseback

Did you know…

Cocaine. Gift from the gods Incas and fundamental to the funeral rites

The cocaine was already cultivated by the ancient Incas in our hemisphere. However the plant was closely tied to religion and its special rites. Only the sovereign Inca was authorized to use the coca leaf out of the religious context.

According to the Inca religion the plant was given to men by God kapaċi Manco, son of the Sun God. This was used by yatiri (who knows) in rites of revealing. The coca was put in places where theft was to discover the thief, or put the sheet in parts of the body and then the leaf was consumed by yatiri to uncover infidelities.

The cocaine was essential in the funeral rites, put up a coca leaf in the mouth of the deceased that he was favorably received in the hereafter. The coca leaf has been instrumental during the Spanish domination that forced the Native Americans to work in the mines. From this time the plant began to be used to escape reality and ease the pain of body and soul.

The Theologian and Director of the Theological Seminary of Bible Study As part of the Messianic Jewish context, Mark Abram gave an interview to the CPA/RJ

Theologian and Director of the Theological Seminary of Bible Study As part of the Messianic Jewish context, Mark Abram

What is messianic judaism?
It is a follow-up of Judaism that accepts Yeshua as the Messiah.

 

Tell us about the roots of christianity in the jewish context.
Actually, judaism is the root of christianity and not christianity in judaism. The messiah is Jewish, his early followers were Jews, the prophets who announced his coming are Jews. Besides the second coming of the Messiah is to restore Israel spiritually and restore the throne of David. Neither Yeshua nor Peter founded christianity. The christianity arose under the influence of Rome, through a religious syncretism, mixed the way proposed by messing with the pagan religions prevalent at the time. The apostle Paul explained in his letter to the Romans, chapter 11, concerning the gentiles who accepted the testimony of the Messiah Yeshua, to be grafted into the olive tree is Israel. Thus, nowadays, it is necessary that the non-Jewish followers of Messiah Yeshua, make a reassessment of what is necessary to leave aside of the pagan influences that have crept in theology and christian living.

 

A christian can become a Jew?
As I said, the person receiving the testimony of Yeshua is grafted onto the olive tree that is Israel. She is entitled the blessings of Abraham and at the same time should obey the precepts of the Eternal. Obviously there are laws and maybe exclusive blessings for the people of Israel. An example of a unique law to Israel is circumcision and an exclusive blessing for Israel is the possession of the land of Israel.

 

Within christianity we find the holy trinity. How can we treat the question of the messianic jew and the Holy Spirit?
There is a part of Messianic Judaism that believes in the Trinity. We Unity Messianic Jews do not believe in trinity. For us, the Lord is ONE, UNO, and Yeshua is the Messiah, His Son. The Eternal is the Only One who lives in the world thet does not exist, because the existing world cannot contain it. He shows his spirit in the existing world, manifesting itself in a tolerable way to the humans. The term Holy Spirit in Hebrew is Ruach Ha Kodesh, which literally means the Holy Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit is no longer a person, but the eternal manifesting itself in a tolerable way , that is, the spirit of God. Yeshua is the only begotten Son, that is, the only one to be generated from the type, with a structure capable of manifesting the presence of the Eternal in an excellent way. Yeshua was the one generated with the spiritual DNA of the Eternal and became His official representing in the existing world. Yeshua never actually usurped the place of the Eternal, but said he received command of the Father to talk about and to talk with and could not do anything that he didn’t see His Father doing. Yeshua is the path to return to the Eternal, and through their sacrifice have been given the necessary atonement to achieve forgiveness from God. In view of the unit, through Yeshua the Jew return to God and gentile converts to God. Explain in more detail about this in my book: “The Son of Elohim” which is available on our website (www.judaismomessianicobrasil.com.br).

 

The Judeo-Christian keep all liturgical precepts of Judaism?
There is no Judeo-Christian, when the Jew actually receives the testimony of Yeshua he becomes a complete Jew. The Apostle Paul never ceased to live as a Jew. He circumcised Timothy in Acts 16, did the Nazarite vow in Acts 18 and kept the Sabbath. So the Messianic Jew meets on Saturdays (the Sabbath), keep the feasts, observe the precepts of the Eternal and maintain the good traditions, which are the rite of the Jewish service is in line with the Torah (Pentateuch, laws, education of the Eternal). Yeshua did not come to annul the Torah, but make it and pay withhis own perfect offering debt of any transgression of the Torah, we read the letter to Titus, chapter 2 verse 14. Yeshua has opened a wide door for all, Jews and non-Jews can return to God and live according to His eternal principles. Someone said that the Torah is the Manufacturer’s Manual of the Human Being. On the other hand, the B’rit Chadashá, through the testimony of Yeshua is the guarantee of living forever with the Manufacturer.

 

What prejudices the judeo-christian encounters in judaism and christianity?
As I said, there is no jewish christian. The messianic jew has some difficulty with christianity, first because it follows some Christian customs that began in paganism, such as christmas, easter on the wrong date (established by Constantine), the theology of the annulment of the law and so on. However, there is a visible progress in respect of messianic judaism with some follow-evangelicals, who clearly understand the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), understanding that just as the natives do not have the obligation to keep all the commandments on the other hand the Messianic Jew has the full right to live as a Jew, and keep all the precepts of the Torah. The standoff with the traditional Jewish is in fact the jewish messianic accepting of  Yeshua as the Messiah. This leads to a difference in respect to what is considered sacred writings for both.

 

The messianic jew accepted as written sacred Tanach (known among christians as the old testament) and B’rit Chadashá (known among christians as the new testament). Since the traditional Jew does not accept B’rit Chadashá and considers the Talmud as written almost the same level of the Tanach.

 

The Jews must leave Judaism by accepting Jesus?
No way! Jew is a Jew and can never leave Judaism. Actually there are promises of God to the Jews who have not been reached and are reserved for the last few days. Then the Jew must remain firm in his alliance with the Eternal, circumcising their children and teaching them to observe the commandments. Yeshua lived as a Jew and taught us never to drop the Torah. What Yeshua fought against were some traditions that were established by the Rabbis, which were not in the Torah, and not in tune with the teaching that Moses went to the people of Israel. While some rabbinic traditions are good and profitable. Yeshua also fought legalism, which is a wrong attitude, but how much to the commandments he never fought, instead, taught us to obey them with all our hearts. He said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 19, that if a person did not obey the least of the commandments and teach others to do the same thing, will be least in the kingdom of heaven. This is because it is a small command, because it considered great disobey commandments, nor enter the kingdom of heaven, as we read in Hebrews 10, from verse 26. In fact the new covenant made by Yeshua supports previous alliances, as we read in Hebrews 8, in reference to Jeremiah 31, in the new covenant laws are written in our hearts and printed in our minds.

 

The jew who accepts Jesus continues to be a jew or become a christian?
A jew can never become a christian. The Jew who accepts the testimony of Yeshua, a Jew becomes a complete and updated with the revelations of the Eternal.