Untitled Essay, Research Paper

here ya travel & # 8230 ; have fun History Compare and Contrast the Hagiographas of Confucius, Hammurabi, and the book of the dead Three of the most celebrated Hagiographas from ancient civilisations are the Hagiographas of Confucius, Hammurabi & # 8217 ; s codification of Torahs, and Egypt & # 8217 ; s Book of the Dead. At first, they seem really different, they & # 8217 ; rhenium from different times, parts, and faiths, but they all offer a peep into what values ancient people considered of import. One of the values that all three civilisations is justness and equity. I feel that this is best viewed in Hammurabi & # 8217 ; s Torahs. All of the punishments for the offenses are really stiff, but just. I feel that it is just that & # 8220 ; If he has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken & # 8221 ; It & # 8217 ; s like in the Bible & # 8220 ; An oculus for an oculus, and a tooth for a tooth. & # 8221 ; In Egypt, in the Book of the Dead, a adult male couldn & # 8217 ; t continue into the after life unless he was found inexperienced person of any incorrect making on Earth. In Confucius & # 8217 ; Hagiographas, he ne’er really says the word & # 8220 ; justness & # 8221 ; , but he does state & # 8220 ; Great Man cherishes excellence ; Petty Man, his ain comfort. Great Man cherishes the regulations and ordinances ; Petty Man particular favors. & # 8221 ; To me, that mean & # 8220 ; Great Man is just, Petty adult male is unfair. & # 8221 ; The second of these three values is duty and regard to one & # 8217 ; s household and seniors, and duty and regard to others households and seniors. This is most apparent in Confucius & # 8217 ; Hagiographas. He is invariably emphasizing household values and duty. One quotation mark that shows this is & # 8220 ; Let the exclusive sorry of your parents be that you might go ill. & # 8221 ; This stresses personal duty and regard to your parents. Hammurabi showed duty by stating & # 8220 ; If a builder has built a house for a adult male, and has non made his work sound, and the house he built has fallen, and caused the decease of the adult male & # 8217 ; s boy, the builder & # 8217 ; s son shall be put to death. & # 8221 ; That quotation mark shows a adult male & # 8217 ; s duty for himself and his household. In Egypt, during the rite of the dead, it is said that the dead adult male, in order to go through into the hereafter, must profes

s that he has not done anything to hurt anyone. This shows responsibility because if the man did not tell the truth, he was responsible for not entering the afterlife. Knowing that they would be responsible for their actions, the Egyptians tried not to hurt people in their mortal lives. The final value that all three cultures had in common was being truthful. All three cultures relied heavily on the truth. In Hammurabi’s laws, it says “If a man has borne false witness in a trial, or has not established the statement that he has made, if that case be a capital trial, that man shall be put to death.” In other words “If you lie, you die.” When Confucius examined himself every day, he asked the question “have I been false with my friends?” In Egypt, it was important that a man be truthful when brought before Osiris, because if they didn’t tell the truth, they would be banished from the afterlife. One of the lines of the Book of the Dead reads “I have not committed sin in the place of truth,” which I read as “I have not lied.” Each one of these three civilizations used different methods to enforce them. In Sumer, Hammurabi’s strict punishments kept people from disobeying them. On the other hand, Egypt didn’t use any kind of physical punishment, but they used threats. The people thought that if they went against the values, Osiris, god of the afterlife, would punish them after their died. In China, the values weren’t enforced, but they were protected by the government. In the second century B.C., Confucianism became the official philosophy of China, thus preserving it for the future. I am greatly impressed by Hammurabi’s ideas. His laws may sound harsh, but they had to be. In ancient Sumer, you had to be harsh or people wouldn’t even listen. I don’t agree, however, with his double standards. I feel that a life is worth just as much whether it’s a patrician or a plebeian. I think that Confucius’ ideas are the ones that come the closest to my own beliefs. I like the fact that Confucius’ ideas are still just as relevant today as they were in ancient China.