HST2110 - The Ten Commandments
HST2110: The Ten Commandments
20 credits (Semester 1)
Module Leader: Dr Casey Strine (2024-25)
Module Summary
One of the most common sources available to historians are legal documents. How can these be used to reconstruct history? What opportunities and challenges do they present? What approaches are necessary to use them well?
This module provides insight on that broader historical process by looking at the rich tradition of legal sources from the ancient Middle East. The most well known of those legal texts—the Ten Commandments—lies at the centre of this module. However, there is no ’Ten Commandments’ in practice, but at least four different texts that could claim that moniker. This module explores the ancient Near Eastern context (as scholars call the Middle East from ca. 1200 to 300 BCE) for these commands, the four texts in the Hebrew Bible that contend for the name Ten Commandments, and the role these texts can play in reconstructing history. This includes studies in political (how did priests wrest power from monarchs), social (was ancient Israel really monotheistic), economic (was there a proto-Marxist economic ideology in ancient Israel), and ethical (how did ancient Israel treat asylum seekers) aspects of ancient history.
Teaching and Assessment
Teaching is through weekly lectures and seminars.
Assessment
Please see this page for assessment details: Level 2 assessment
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module you will be able to:
Describe the genre of ancient legal code and explain its social function
Discuss issues of interpretation related to Exodus 2 and 34, Deuteronomy 5, and Leviticus 19
Recount scholarly views on how and when these texts were written
Relate the texts studies to ancient social structure and political motivation
Present and evaluate different interpretations of a text over the course of the module via seminar engagement and participation