Friday

                                       Musings and History 

Quote of the day:

“Success is worrying about everything in the world except money.”

Johnny Cash

                                      Hammurabi

The Babylonians of the 1800 century BC were led by a king named Hammurabi. A dolomite finger shaped stelae (carved column) was found by an Egyptian archaeologist in 1901. The stelae had all 261 laws of Hammurabi engraved on the side. Later on there was found identical markings on several clay tablets. They were all written in the Akkadian language that was still in use at the time of Christ. We must keep in mind that the Hebrews were captured and enslaved by the Babylonians on three different occasions and there is little doubt that the Jewish law absorbed part of the Hammurabi law into their own. Here are a few of them that will smack of present day law.

If a man and a woman married and there is no intercourse, she is not his wife. In these days an “annulment” quickly follows the absence of sex in a marriage or if either partner objects.

Hammurabi says If a man takes another man’s child he shall be put to death. Back in the 1930’s the Charles Lindberg baby was kidnapped and killed. Bruno Hauptman, an illegal German immigrant was captured, tried and convicted on the flimsiest of evidence of this horrible crime. A year after the conviction he was executed by electric chair In Trenton, New Jersey.

Hammurabi law stated that if a man accused another of a crime, the accused would be required to jump in the river and if he died, the accuser would gain the man’s house and lands. However, if the jumper survived, the accuser would be killed and the accused would gain all of his lands and house. It hasn’t been that long ago that “affairs of honor” were settled in duels. This law is very close to that.

It appears that the Babylonia law system of sorts existed. The Executive and Legislative branch was the king, the Judicial and enforcement branch was the “elders”. Nearly all serious cases came before the “elders” for judgment. There were defined punishments for a given crime but the punishment had a little “wiggle room” dependent upon circumstances.

Even judges that convicted a man that later proved to be innocent, the judge was to be executed. I like this one.

It seems a harsh method of justice but they were harsh people and the Hammurabi knew that.

This is just few of the Hammurabi laws of the 261 but it should give us some insight into how life was in the Middle East 3800 years ago. 

                   This Date In History   March 17

1804 Two months before the Lewis and Clark left on their immortal expedition James Bridger was born in Richmond, Virginia. Jim became one of the most important explorers of the American west in its history. He was the original “Mountain Man”. Little is known of Jim’s childhood but it is known the he and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri in 1818. Jim honed his skill by exploring the area around Saint Louis and followed the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. When Jim was 18 years old he found out about an enterprise named the Ashley-Henry Fur Company expedition. Their idea was to head west and trade with the Indian for furs, especially beaver and mink. The first person hired was Jim Bridger. Jim was successful in trading with the Indians, even with the fierce and protective Blackfeet that gave Lewis and Clark so much trouble. He was successful in building the first fur trading post on the Yellowstone River. It is acknowledged that he was the first Anglo to lay eyes of the Great Salt Lake even though he thought it was the Pacific Ocean. He had an enormous recall of geographic detail that saved his ass more than once. He operated as an independent trapper for several years. He grew tired of the nomadic life and decided that there was enough traffic on the Oregon Trail to warrant a trading post so he married a Flathead woman named Cora and founded and build Fort Bridger in the Green River section of southern Wyoming. His fort became a regular stop for the pioneers headed west. He and Cora had three children and it looked like an idealistic life for Jim, but it was not to be. Cora died, one of his daughters was killed by the Blackfeet and the third died of jaundice. After these episodes Jim would retreat into the mountains and trap, living with different Indian tribes. In 1853, Jim married a Shoshone woman he named Mary, and lived at the Fort in the summer and with the Shoshone in the winter. The Mormons in the area became jealous of Jim’s success and tried to have him arrested. But Jim and Mary escaped into the mountains along with their children. The Mormons burned and gutted his fort destroying his supplies. They are not as benevolent as they would want you to believe. He was worried how to feed his family and bought a farm near Westport, Missouri and left his family there during his western adventures. In 1858 he sold his fort and made his living as a guide to the pioneers and as a scout to the US cavalry. In 1868 he retired to his farm in Westport and tended his apple orchard. With his eyesight failing and rheumatism rampant, he died July 13, 1881 at the age of 76 in Westport. What a contribution this man made to the expansion of these United States.

By the way, The movie “Revenant” was loosely based on the life of mountain man Hugh Glass. Hugh's troubles began when he was attacked by female grizzly and severely injured. While under attack he was screaming his lungs out and the 2 of the trappers he was with came running and killed the bear. They thought Hugh would die so they skinned the bear, covered him with the pelt and left. One of these men that killed and skinned the bear was Jim Bridger.

                Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow