Hammurabi's law code

One telling illustration: most popular commentaries on the stela of Hammurapi interpret the relief on top of the stela as depicting the god handing down the law code to the king. In fact, the god is merely handing down the symbols of civil power, which enable the king to enforce justice in his own capacity.—Herman Vanstiphout in What Is a God?, 38 n. 104

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Another important distinction that many miss...
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