Anthropologist Mary Douglas said that it was just about creating a sense of purity, almost for its own sake. And so there had to be things which distinguished the jews as as a proper followers of god, from the gentiles. It wasn't just about what foods they ate, but it was also,. am, about eeping warriors. Camps had to be a kept apart from the business of war because theBusiness of War was dirty and unclean and polluting. So that couldn't be allowed to sort of contaminate proper domestic life. Am, and then there's one of those, all those bizarre rules about where you shouldn't weave to the two different materials, wool
Rulers throughout history have used laws to impose order. But laws were not simply instruments of power and social control. They also offered ordinary people a way to express their diverse visions for a better world. The variety of the world’s laws has long been almost as great as the variety of its societies.
In this conversation, Shermer speaks with Oxford professor of the anthropology of law, Fernanda Pirie, who traces the rise and fall of the sophisticated legal systems underpinning ancient empires and religious traditions, showing how common people — tribal assemblies, merchants, farmers — called on laws to define their communities, regulate trade, and build civilizations. What truly unites human beings, Pirie argues, is our very faith that laws can produce justice, combat oppression, and create order from chaos.