Discussion 3 Code of Hammurabi

First of all to look at it from an artistic point of view the slab in rounded in proportion. The sides a straight and narrow. The piece itself seems to be made out of plaster or concrete. The color is interesting to because it is black and that color represents death and emptiness. It could have been painted black or a black substance was used because black could mean that the punishment for law breakers was death. When people saw this slab in ancient times a fear could have been instilled into them for when they saw the slab they though we must obey the laws or we get the death penalty or face the wrath of the gods. From what I gather the reason why the slab is black could be due to the paint or dye that was used when it was created or it could be the substances natural color. There also appears to be a light and shadow thing going on because in the picture of the slab in the textbook light appears to be beaming on the top of the slab and that gives the impression that the top of the slab has shades of gray. There also appears to be dabs of gray at the bottom of the slab. Historically it is said that a righteous prince that feared the wrath of the gods wrote these laws to help bring order to chaos and to please the father of the gods. There are a total of two hundred eighty two laws. These laws are based on gender, class and finances. It is interesting to note that the ten commandments enough though the slabs are smaller and are written on a different type of mineral they are rounded in proportion as well. The ten commandments has been depicted to have been written on stone tablets that are white or tan depending on how the artist depicts them in paintings. White represents purity and the color could be an indication that these commandments came from God. The other could color depicted on the slabs could represent how the light is being reflected off of them. The laws in the code of Hammurabi seem to be divided for different people whereas the ten commandments apply to everyone and they are simple and the other laws are harder to comprehend. One more thing that I want to add is that the prince that wrote the code of Hammurabi did not receive divine visitations from the gods and Moses talked to God up close and personal.  Like the people that followed the code of Hammurabi the children of Israel were supposed to fear God and follow his commandments. From an artist point of views comparing the slabs they each have the same shape and proportions however the ten commandments are smaller and are written on stone. The color of the slabs is different as well.