Knowledge of the history, law, cultic practices and realia of the Ancient Near East can often shed much light on Tanakh. This index contains a list of links to articles which touch on the connections between Tanakh and ancient cultures.
Law: General
See M. Greenberg, Some Postulates of Biblical Criminal Law, for discussion of the contrasts between the underlying values of Biblical law and laws of surrounding Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Greenberg demonstrates that Biblical law is unique in identifying God, rather than the king, as its source. Consequently, for example, adultery is viewed by Tanakh as a sin against God, not simply an affront against the husband. Similarly, the sanctity of human life, and the fact that it is not comparable to the value of property, is a basic premise of Biblical law but not of other ancient law codes. Tanakh is also unique in prohibiting vicarious punishment. All of these differences derive from the belief that law derives from God’s will, and the corresponding notion of sanctity in the legal context.
See Tanakh and the Literature of the Ancient Near East I and Tanakh and the Literature of the Ancient Near East II, by R. Amnon Bazak, for comparison and contrast of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern law in general. He, too, notes that a fundamental difference between the two is that Tanakh views law as deriving from the will of Hashem rather than that of the king, which leads to many practical ramifications. Among these are that Tanakh includes apodictic laws such as those of the Ten Commandments, whereas Ancient Near East laws are consistently expressed casuistically.
See The Torah and Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes which analyzes points of contact and difference between the various law codes, noting that the variations reflect both the different underlying values and principles of the cultures, and their different conceptions of justice and punishment. While the Torah attempts to lay forth principles of right and wrong and to set up a just society, the primary goal of the other codes is to preserve law and order. The topic also includes a case study comparing the laws of the goring ox in various codes.
See Biblical and Cuneiform Law Codes, by Raymond Westbrook, for information about the Ancient Near East law codes that have survived and analysis of their nature and purpose.
See Torah and Ancient Near Eastern Law II, by R. Chaim Navon, for comparison and contrast of several of the individual laws of Parashat Mishpatim (including the laws of the Hebrew manservant, the goring ox, theft, pledge-taking and hurting a pregnant woman) with Ancient Near Eastern legal sources.
See The Code of Hammurabi, by J. Dyneley Prince, for comparison and contrast of Biblical law and the Code of Hammurabi specifically. He compares laws of adultery, rape, disobedient children, false witnesses, divorce, kidnapping, theft and the notion of lex talionis, the principle of retaliatory/proportional punishment, which he suggests underlies much of the code.1
Capital Punishment
See Capital Punishment and Its Alternatives in Ancient Near Eastern Law, by Edwin M. Good, for discussion of the crimes for which capital punishment was mandated in ancient societies. The author tries to deduce from these the varying values of these differing cultures. For example, he suggests that the more severe the punishment, the worse the society views the offense, which provides insight into the way differing cultures evaluated differing acts. Regarding Israel, he concludes: “One finds in Israel a religious ethic that is sometimes explicitly adduced in explanation of legislation, whereas Babylonian ethics would seem to be based entirely upon social or utilitarian considerations.”
Slavery
See Slavery in the Ancient Near East, by I. Mendelsohn, for information about various forms of slavery that were practiced in the near east. The author speaks of three main sources of slaves: sale of minors by their parents, voluntary self-sale by indigent adults, and defaulting debtors. He then describes the legal status of slaves, their treatment and rights, and finally their economic role, noting that societies had state slaves, personal slaves and temple slaves, but that they were not economically dependent on slavery.
Accidental Murder
See Killer on the Run, by R. Zvi Shimon, for analysis of the laws of accidental murder, an avenger of blood, and the city of refuge in light of similar institutions in the ancient near east. He notes that while Tanakh utilized a pre-existing framework, it overhauled and adapted it to Torah values. Thus, for instance, Torah distinguishes between a willful and unintentional killer, granting refuge only to the latter, while other law codes do not differentiate. While other codes allow the blood avenger to kill any member of the murderer's family, Tanakh limits the avenging to the culprit himself.
Theft and Kidnapping
See The Meaning of Theft in Ancient Near Eastern Law, by Hossein Badamchi, for analysis of different types of theft and their punishments in ancient law codes, including kidnapping. He notes that the punishment for theft of property is more severe in these codes than in the Bible
Laws of Animals
In his article, Animals in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law: Tort and Ethical Laws, Idan Breier explores the various laws related to animals in Torah and other legal codes of its time, including stealing and finding animals, watching over and renting animals, and responsibility for damage caused by animals (including goring oxen). The author notes that there is an entire category of laws found almost exclusively in Torah, those which might be known as “humane” laws, intended to protect and promote animal welfare. He suggests that the difference between the codes, and Torah's ethical bent, stems from its Divine authorship. The "ethical principles that encompass the animal as well as human world is a function of God’s status as a merciful and compassionate creator who is concerned about and takes care of all his creatures."
See Idolatry, by Moshe Halbertal and Avishai Margalit, for a comprehensive analysis of paganism from the perspective of monotheistic religions, with a focus on Judaism.
See The Biblical Idea of Idolatry, by Jose Faur, for information about Ancient Near Eastern notions of idolatry and Tanakh’s rejection of idolatrous beliefs. This article briefly outlines and rejects Yehezkel Kaufmann’s theory that “Israel was totally unaware of the nature of pagan beliefs.” Kaufmann’s The Religion of Israel is available here.
Divination
See Divination, Politics, and Ancient Near Eastern Empires, particularly Chapters 2 (The King at the Crossroads Between Divination and Cosmology, by Beate Pongratz-Leisten) & 3 (Divination as Warfare: The Use of Divination across Borders, by Jonathan Stokl), for information about forms and uses of sorcery and divination in the Ancient Near East.
Sexual Offenses
In his article, Crime and Sexual Offense in Hatti, Ilan Peled notes that Hittite codes were the only Ancient Near East codes aside from the Bible that prohibited bestiality. See also Structures of Power: Law and Gender Across the Ancient Near East and Beyond, Chapter 2 (Gender and Sex Crimes in the Ancient Near East: Law and Custom), also by Ilan Peled, for comparison and contrast of laws on sexual matters in the Ancient Near East, including the case of seduction that is described in Shemot 22:15.
See Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient Near Eastern Legal and Wisdom Literature, by F. Charles Fensham, for information about how Ancient Near Eastern societies legislated and protected the rights of these vulnerable groups. The various cultures all view protection of these disadvantaged people as the will of god/God and expected of a just king. It seems to have been a common policy, already in place across the near east even before Torah law.
See Foreigners in the Ancient Near East, by Gary Beckman, for a survey of attitudes toward foreigners and how different populations of foreigners were integrated into Ancient Near Eastern societies.
Usury
While interest-taking was permitted in all ancient Near Eastern societies other than ancient Israel, there were attempts to limit rates of interest and the burden upon impoverished debtors. See Usury and Restrictions on Interest-Taking in the Ancient Near East, by Robert P. Maloney.
Shabbat
See Tanakh and the Literature of the Ancient Near East (3), by R. Amnon Bazak, for analysis of the claim that ancient Mesopotamian literature contains parallels to the institution of Shabbat. R. Bazak demonstrates the significant differences between the Biblical and Mesopotamian institutions.2 While the latter were very much related to the lunar calendar and considered days of bad luck, appeasement to the gods, and meant for only a small segment of society, the Biblical Shabbat is unrelated to the lunar cycle, is considered a day of blessing and affirmation of faith in Hashem as creator, and is an egalitarian institution applying to everyone from servants to rulers.
Covenantal Relationships
Archaeological finds have revealed many treaties from the Ancient Near East which have much in common with their Biblical counterparts. Many of the treaties found share certain set elements including: a preamble introducing the parties to the treaty, a historical introduction, the treaty stipulations, provisions for public reading of the treaty, divine witnesses, and curses and blessings. These components have clear echoes in the covenants of Tanakh, including that of Sinai, Moav and Shekhem. For discussion, see Treaties in Tanakh and the Ancient Near East.
See God’s Alliance With Man and listen to What Type of Relationship is a Brit, both by R. Dr. Joshua Berman, for analysis of how the covenant of Sinai can be more deeply understood in light of ancient Near Eastern vassal treaties. In the context of this discussion, R. Dr. Berman explains the phrase of "יֵרָאֶה כׇּל זְכוּרְךָ אֶל פְּנֵי הָאָדֹן י״י" in light of similar stipulations in secular treaties, where the subordinate king is required to visit the court of his sovereign, to “look upon the face of his majesty."