Hazor

The cuneiform Laws of Hazor, from the first half of the 2^nd millennium B.C.E., suggest that biblical laws had roots in Canaanite law. This challenges, for example, the idea that the Bible’s lex talionis was borrowed from Hammurabi’s laws. While some ancient Near Eastern laws draw distinctions between social classes, Leviticus later makes clear that all human lives are equally valuable.

The Canaanite city of Hazor was destroyed in the Late Bronze Age. When the Israelites resettled the city in the Early Iron Age, they placed standing stones in three different places on the destroyed remains. What were these stones meant to signify?