Similarities Between Exodus And The Code Of Hammurabi

All throughout history we have seen governments of various societies use political propaganda as a tool in order to construct, even promote imagined order as a ways to seek balance in their respective societies. This imagined order is then used as a tool to promote and insert specific beliefs, values and morals into its' people. Whether it be The Code of Hammurabi in Mesopotamia, the battle between Gods' law and mans' Law in Greek society, illustrated through the eye of Sophocles in Antigone, and finally through the rise and then legitimization of Christianity in ancient Rome all different societies using these imagined orders as political propaganda in order to promote a “balanced” society.
Moving in chronological order, The Code of Hammurabi can be seen as one of the pioneers'

when it comes to imagined order. Created by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, renowned for obviously The Code of Hammurabi, this set of laws' “which are often recognized for their blunt, zero-sum simplicity... the most frequent of penalties laid down in the code of nearly 270 laws is death” (@Why World History). You can easily see how a king can use this to his advantage, to make things even easier to use this political propaganda to promote his imagined order Hammurabi claims to be supported by the gods. In recitation we discussed how Hammurabi uses this law to inflict fear onto his civilians, using this fear as political propaganda in order to construct and promote the imagined order which is The Code of Hammurabi. One example of how fear is used as political propaganda in order to promote this imagined order can be seen in how the death is the penalty most laid down in the code as stated in the textbook, crimes such as adultery and theft result in the death penalty, excessive to say the least.. Fear of death is not unnatural and as a ruler Hammurabi uses this as his political propaganda in order construct and promote a set of laws he imagined in order to to have balance in his society. Which leads to the next question, is political propaganda needed in a stable society? I think yes, however not to the point where fear is the propaganda being used. The Code of Hammurabi is imagined order at its' finest, later being used as a template for other imagined orders.
Advancing through history we arrive in Israel/Phoenicia, where we see the book of Exodus which contains striking resemblance to the Code of Hammurabi.

The propaganda in this civilization would be Exodus, like the Code of Hammurabi it's also a set of law given to someone by the support of God in order to provide an ordered society. This Propaganda created by the leader of the Israelites Moses uses his “divine” power to given the newly freed slaves order. In recitation we discussed the glaring similarities between both Exodus and the Code of Hammurabi, the biggest similarity between the two being the punishments for crimes. For example Exodus made use of the dath penalty often however not as recklessly as the Code of Hammurabi. Crimes such as theft and adultery remain constant with the penalty of death in Exodus. Exodus imposed on civilians not by a king but a ruler of similar degree a prophet named Moses, God as a way to push forth his imagined order. People tend to seek guidance and wish to follow a leader, this is what Moses provided. Exodus gave the people of Israel a hope and imagined order all through the political propaganda created by Moses, all in

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Finally looking at Octavian in Rome as the next political propaganda holder, this a little more direct. Like Hammurabi and Moses, Octavian lays his claim to the support of God. In the textbook it states “he gives himself some extra divine backing... keeping the key tools of authority for himself (consular status; the power of the Tribunes; the power of the Censor). (@Rome 1). In other word Octavian sneakily kept the top position of power for himself. To also further his divine upbringing Octavian changes his name to Augustus. He claims to have restored a republic however like his other propaganda this is the same. Augustus keeps Romes' future leaders under the same bloodlines. As seen in the quote “proof that there is no “restored Republic” and that we are dealing with a monarchic system of government at Rome comes at Augustus’s death in 14 CE.  Power passes, a bit hesitantly, to Augustus’s stepson Tiberius (@Rome 1). His stepson gets power based on bloodline, so much for a republic.
As seen throughout this essay the political propaganda usually is produced by a leader of some sort, however the civilians of that society may end up backing and supporting the propaganda. In a way it is very similar to the blind faith we talked about in recitation, where individuals follow a certain faith without truly knowing everything. I do believe political propaganda may have it's place in an ordered society. Without the rules in Exodus there would be chaos, so for some purposes political propaganda and the promotion of imagined order may actually help keep the peace in a society.