LEGISLATIONS OF ISRAEL AND BABYLONIA. 



165 



king and a centralised worship, modelled exactly on the code of 

 Hammurabi ? First the Historical Introduction, then the laws and 

 legislation, many of which were identical with those of Hammurabi, 

 then as in the other code an epilogue of blessing and cursings 

 This resemblance in structure was more than remarkable. 



The form of the book of Deuteronomy, though unique in the 

 Bible, was that common to all documents of the Babylonian civili- 

 sation. All ended in the series of blessings and cursings. In fact, 

 the whole form and phraseology of the book of Deuteronomy pointed 

 to a Babylonian model. 



He had but one more remark to make, concerning the treatment 

 of the slave. Meisner had shown that the principles of humanity 

 had full play here. When the slave grew old or was injured, or 

 -after long and faithful service, the master must give him bread and 

 oil for the rest of his life. 



Mr. Wiener, in replying, said that it did not appear to him that 

 Mr. Boscawen had made good his criticisms on material points. He 

 regarded the oaths on which Mr. Boscawen relied as extremely 

 commonplace. Such oaths were to be found in all ancient legis- 

 lation, so much so, that one came to look on them as mere stage 

 property. Naturally every nation took the oaths in the forms that 

 harmonised with their particular religious observances, but the 

 fundamental idea — that of appealing to higher powers in certain 

 cases for proof — was universal. With regard to the introduction and 

 epilogue he had purposely refrained from using them, and also the 

 materials in the contract tablets for this paper, because he had 

 no knowledge of cuneiform, and felt that in the circumstances 

 he had better heed the warning given by Mr. Johns not to build 

 elaborate theories on the introductory and concluding sections of 

 the code. Professor Kohler had promised to utilise the material 

 afforded by the contrasts in the second volume of Hammurabi's 

 Gesefz, and as he co-operated with an Assyriologist, Dr. Pusey, he 

 could safely undertake work that would be dangerous for a lawyer 

 who did not enjoy expert assistance. With regard to the 

 criticism that there had been endless legislation he had endeavoured 

 to bring out in his paper the fact that the code merely represented 

 one stage in a long development. Nor again had he meant to 

 convey any notion that the code was not acted on for a long 

 period. He meant that while the code was useful in its day it did 

 nothing whatever to elevate .humanity in the long run. 



