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Hammurabi's Code of Laws
When Anu the
Sublime, King of the
Anunaki, and
Bel, the lord of
heaven and Earth, decreed the
fate of the
land, assigned to
Marduk, the over-ruling
son of Ea, god of
righteousness, dominion over
earthly man, they called Babylon,
made it great on Earth, and founded an
everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid as solidly as those of
heaven and Earth; then Anu and Bel called by name Hammurabi, the exalted
prince, who stood in awe of
god, to bring about the
rule of
righteousness in the
land, to dispossess the wicked and the
evil doers; so that the strong should
not harm the weak; so that I should
rule over the people, and
enlighten the
land, to further the well-being of
mankind. Hammurabi, the prince, called of
Bel am I, sublime patron of E-kur the
shield of the land, who reestablished
Eridu, conquered the four quarters of
the Earth, made great the name of Babylon
and rejoiced the heart of
Marduk; the royal scion whom
Sin made; who enriched Ur; the humble,
the reverent, who brings wealth to
Gish-shir-gal; who again laid the foundations of Sippara; the lord who granted
new life to Uruk, who brought plenteous
water to its inhabitants and
perfected the
beauty of
Anu and Nana; who reunited the scattered
inhabitants of Isin; who richly endowed E-gal-mach; who firmly founded the
farms of Kish, crowned E-me-te-ursag with glory, redoubled the great
holy treasures of Nana, managed the temple of
Harsag-kalama; who increased the power of
Cuthah; made all glorious in
E-shidlam, the black steer, who gored the enemy; beloved of the
god Nebo, who rejoiced the
inhabitants of Borsippa, the Sublime; who is indefatigable for E-zida; the
divine king of the
city; who broadened
the fields of Dilbat, who heaped up the harvests for Urash; the Elect of Ma-ma;
who fixed the temple bounds of Kesh, who made rich the
holy feasts of Nin-tu; who provided food and
drink for Lagash and Girsu, who restored the vessels for worship in
E-ud-gal-gal; the king who granted
life to the
city of Adab; the
guide of E-mach; who granted life to the
inhabitants of Mashkanshabri and brought abundance to the temple of Shidlam;
who penetrated the secret cave
of the bandits, saved the inhabitants of Malka from misfortune and fixed their
home fast in wealth; who established
pure sacrificial gifts for
Ea and Dam-gal-nun-na; who subjected the
districts on the Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of Dagon; who spared the
inhabitants of Mera and Tutul; who presents holy meals to the divinity of Nin-a-zu, who cared
for its inhabitants in their need, provided a portion for them in Babylon in
peace; the shepherd of the oppressed and of
the slaves; who recognizes the
right, who rules by law; who gave back to
the city of Ashur
its protecting
god; who let the name of Ishtar of
Nineveh remain in E-mish-mish. I am the mighty son of Sin-muballit; the royal scion of
Eternity; the mighty monarch,
the sun of Babylon, whose rays shed light over the
land of Sumer and Akkad; the
king,
obeyed by the four
quarters of the world.
When Marduk sent me to
rule over men, to give the
protection of right to the
land, I did right and
righteousness in the
land and brought about the well-being of
the oppressed.
The Code of Laws
1. If any one
ensnare another, putting a ban upon him,
but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to
death.
2. If any one bring an
accusation against a man, and the
accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his
accuser shall take possession of
his house. But if the river
prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt,
then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to
death, while he who leaped into the
river shall take possession of the
house that had belonged to
his accuser.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the
elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital
offense charged, be put to death.
4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or
money, he shall receive the fine
that the action produces.
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and
present his judgment in writing; if later
error shall appear in his
decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times
the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the
judge's bench, and never again shall he
sit there to render judgement.
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall
be put to death, and also the one who
receives the stolen article from
him shall be put to death.
7.
If any one buy from the son or the
slave of
another
man,
without witnesses or a
contract, silver or
gold, a
male or
female
slave, an
ox or a sheep,
an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and
shall be put to death.
8. If
any one steal cattle or
sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it
belong to a god or to the court, the
thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a
freed
man of the
king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief
has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to
death.
9. If any one
lose an
article, and find it in the
possession of
another: if the
other in whose
possession the
article is found say "A merchant
sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses," and if the owner of the
article say, "I will bring
witnesses who know my property," then
shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses
before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify
his property. The judge shall examine
their testimony -- both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of
the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is
then proved to be a thief and shall be put to
death. The owner of the lost
article receives his property,
and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the
merchant.
10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the
witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring
witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to
death, and the owner receives the lost
article.
11. If the
owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost
article, he is an
evil doer, he has traduced, and shall be
put to death.
12. If the
witnesses be not at hand, then
shall the judge set a limit, at the
expiration of six months. If his witnesses have not appeared
within the six months, he
is an evil doer, and shall bear the fine
of the pending case.
13. (There is no thirteenth
law; the number thirteen is
skipped.)
14. If any one steal the minor
son of another, he shall be put to
death.
15. If any one take a
male or
female
slave of the court, or a
male or
female
slave of a
freed
man, outside the
city gates, he shall
be put to death.
16. If any one
receive into his house a
runaway male or
female
slave of the court, or of a
freed
man, and does not bring it out at the
public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the
house shall be put to
death.
17.
If any one find runaway male or
female
slaves in the open country and
bring them to their masters, the master of
the slaves shall pay him two
shekels of
silver.
18. If the
slave will not give the name
of the master, the finder shall bring him
to the palace; a further investigation must follow, and the
slave shall be returned to his
master.
19. If he hold the
slaves in his
house, and they are caught
there, he shall be put to death.
20. If the slave that
he caught run away from him, then shall he swear to the owners of the
slave, and he is
free of all blame.
21. If any one
break a hole into a house
(break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put
to death.
23. If the
robber is not caught, then shall he who
was robbed claim under oath the amount of his
loss; then shall the community, and ...
on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the
goods stolen.
24. If persons are stolen, then shall the community and
... pay one mina of silver to their
relatives.
25. If fire break out in a
house, and some one who comes
to put it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the
house, and take the property
of the master of the
house, he shall be thrown
into that self-same fire.
26. If a
chieftain or a
man (common
soldier), who has been ordered to go
upon the king's highway for
war does not go, but hires a
mercenary, if he withholds the
compensation, then shall this officer or man be put to
death, and he who represented him shall
take possession of his
house.
27. If a
chieftain or
man be caught in the misfortune of
the king (captured in battle), and if
his fields and garden be given to
another and he take
possession, if he return and
reaches his place, his field and garden
shall be returned to him, he shall take it over again.
28. If a
chieftain or a
man be caught in the misfortune of a
king, if his
son is able to enter into
possession, then the field and
garden shall be given to him, he shall
take over the fee of his father.
29. If his son is still young, and
can not take possession, a third of
the field and garden shall be given to his
mother, and she shall bring him up.
30. If a chieftain or a
man leave his
house,
garden, and field and hires it out, and
some one else takes possession of
his house,
garden, and field and uses it for three
years it becomes his.
31. If a chieftain or a
man leave his
house,
garden, and field and hires it out for one
year and then return, the house,
garden, and field shall be given back to
him, and he shall take it over again.
32. If a
chieftain or a
man is captured on the "Way of the
King" (in
war), and a merchant buy him
free, and bring him back to his place; if
he have the means in his house to buy his freedom, he
shall buy himself free: if he have
nothing in his house with
which to buy himself free, he shall be
bought free by the temple of his
community; if there be nothing in the temple with which to buy him
free, the court shall buy his freedom.
His field, garden, and
house shall not be given for
the purchase of his freedom.
33. If a ... or a ... enter himself as
withdrawn from the "Way of the King,"
and send a mercenary as substitute,
but withdraw him, then the ... or ... shall be put to
death.
34. If a ... or a ...
harm the property of a captain,
injure the captain, or take away from the
captain a gift presented to him by the king, then the ... or ... shall be put to
death.
35. If any one buy the
cattle or sheep
which the king has given to a
chieftain from him, then the
money is forfeit to the
king. 36. The field,
garden, and
house of a
chieftain, of a
man, or tenant, can not be sold.
37. If any one buy the field, garden, and
house of a
chieftain,
man, or a tenant, his contract tablet
of sale shall be broken (declared invalid) and he
loses his
money. The field,
garden, and
house return to their owners.
38. A chieftain,
man, or a tenant can not assign his
tenure of field, house, and
garden to his
wife or daughter, nor can he assign it for a
debt.
39. He may, however, assign a field, garden, or
house which he has bought,
and holds as property, to his wife or
daughter or give it for
debt.
40. He may sell field, garden, and
house to a merchant (royal
agents) or to any other public
official, the buyer holding field,
house, and
garden for its usufruct.
41. If
any one fence in the field, garden, and
house of a
chieftain,
man, or a tenant, furnishing the
stakes therefore; if the chieftain,
man, or the tenant return to field,
garden, and
house, the stakes which were
given to him become his property. 42. If any one take over a field to till it,
and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no
work on the field, and he must deliver
grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field.
43. If
he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he shall give grain like his
neighbor's to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he
must plow and sow and return to its owner.
44. If
any one take over a field lying unused and
wasted to make it arable, but is
lazy, and does not make it arable, he shall
plow the fallow field in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and give it
back to its owner, and for each ten gan (a measure of area) ten gur of grain
shall be paid.
45. If a man
rent his field for tillage for a fixed rental, and receive the rent of his
field, but bad weather come and destroy the harvest, the injury falls
upon the tiller of the soil.
46. If he do not
receive a fixed rental for his field, but lets it on half or third shares of
the harvest, the grain on the field shall be
divided proportionately
between the tiller and the owner.
47. If the tiller, because he did not
succeed in the first year, has had the soil tilled by
others, the owner may raise no
objection; the field has been cultivated and he receives the harvest according
to agreement.
48. If any one owe a
debt for a loan,
and a storm prostrates the grain, or the
harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of
water; in that year he need not give his
creditor any grain, he washes his
debt tablet in
water and pays no rent for this year.
49. If any one take money
from a merchant, and give the merchant a field tillable for grain or sesame and
order him to plant grain or sesame in the
field, and to harvest the crop; if the cultivator plant corn or sesame in the field, at the
harvest the grain or sesame that is in the field shall belong to the owner of
the field and he shall pay grain as rent, for the
money he received from the merchant,
and the livelihood of the cultivator shall
be given to the merchant.
50. If he gives a cultivated grain-field or a
cultivated sesame-field, the grain or sesame in the field shall belong to the
owner of the field, and he shall return the
money to the merchant as rent.
51. If he has no money to
repay, then he shall pay in grain or sesame in place of the
money as rent for what he received
from the merchant, according to the royal tariff.
52. If the
cultivator does not
plant grain or sesame in the field, the
debtor's contract is not weakened.
53. If any one be too
lazy to keep his dam in proper condition;
if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then the fields of he in whose dam
the break occurred be sold for money, and the
money shall replace the grain which
he has caused to be ruined.
54. If he be not able to replace the grain,
then he and his possessions shall be
divided among the farmers
whose grain he has flooded.
55. If
any one open his ditches to water his
crop, but is careless, and the water
flood the field of his neighbor, then he
shall pay his neighbor grain for his loss.
56. If a
man let in the
water, and the
water overflow the feilds of his
neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of grain for every ten gan of
land.
57. If a shepherd,
without the permission of the
owner of the field, and without the knowledge of the
owner of the sheep, lets the
sheep into a field to graze, then the owner of
the field shall harvest his crop, and the shepherd, who had pastured his flock
there without permission of
the owner of the field, shall pay to the owner twenty gur of corn for every ten
gan.
58. Any shepherd that lets his flock into a field and they graze
there, this shepherd shall take possession of the field which he has
allowed to be grazed on, and at the harvest he must pay sixty gur of grain for
every ten gan.
59. If any man,
without the knowledge of the
owner of a garden, fell a tree in a
garden he shall pay half a mina in
money.
60. If any one give
over a field to a gardener, for him to
plant it as a
garden, if he
work at it, and care for it for four years,
in the fifth year the owner and the gardener shall
divide it, the owner taking
his part in charge.
61. If the gardener has not completed the planting of
the field, leaving one part unused, this shall be assigned to him as his.
62. If he does not plant the field
that was given over to him as a garden, if
it be arable land (for grain or sesame)
the gardener shall pay the owner the
produce of the field for the years that he let it lie fallow, according to the
produce of neighboring fields, put the field in arable condition and return it
to its owner.
63. If he
transform waste
land into arable fields and return it to
its owner, the latter shall pay him for one year ten gur for ten gan.
64. If any one hand over
his garden to a
gardener to work, the gardener shall pay to its owner two-thirds of
the produce of the garden, for so long as
he has it in possession, and the
other third shall he keep.
65. If the gardener does not
work in the garden and the produce falls off, the
gardener shall pay in proportion to
other neighboring gardens.
[The text for laws 66 through 99 is
missing]
100. ... interest for the
money, as much as he has received,
he shall give a note therefore, and on the day, when they settle, pay to the merchant.
101. If there are no mercantile arrangements in the place whither he
went, he shall leave the entire amount of
money which he received with the
broker to give to the merchant.
102. If a merchant
entrust
money to an agent (broker) for some
investment, and the broker suffer a
loss in the place to which he goes, he
shall make good the capital to the merchant.
103. If, while on the
journey, an
enemy take away from him anything that
he had, the broker shall swear by god
and be free of obligation.
104.
If a merchant give an agent grain, wool,
oil, or any
other goods to transport, the agent
shall give a receipt for the amount, compensate the merchant therefore and he
shall obtain a receipt from the merchant for the
money that he gives the merchant.
105. If the agent is careless, and does not take a receipt for the
money which he gave the merchant, he
can not consider debt paid.
106. If the agent accept money from the merchant, but have a
quarrel with the merchant (denying the receipt), then shall the merchant swear
before god and witnesses that he has
given this money to the agent, and
the agent shall pay him three times the sum.
107. If the merchant cheat
the agent, in that as the latter has returned to him all that had been given
him, but the merchant denies the receipt of what had been returned to him, then
shall this agent convict the merchant
before god and the judges, and if he
still deny receiving what the agent had given him shall pay six times the sum
to the agent.
108. If a tavern-keeper (feminine)
does not accept grain according to gross weight in payment of drink, but takes
money, and the price of the drink is
less than that of the grain, she shall be convicted and thrown into the river.
109. If conspirators meet in the
house of a tavern-keeper, and
these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court, the
tavern-keeper shall be put to death.
110. If a "sister of a god"
open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink, then shall this
woman be
burned to
death.
111. If an inn-keeper
furnish sixty ka of usakani-drink to ... she shall receive fifty ka of corn at
the harvest.
112. If any one be on a
journey and
entrust
silver, gold, precious stones, or any movable property
to another, and
wish to recover it from him; if the latter
does not bring all of the property to the appointed place, but appropriate it
to his own use, then shall this man,
who did not bring the property to hand it over, be
convicted, and he shall pay fivefold
for all that had been entrusted to
him.
113. If any one have consignment of grain or
money, and he take from the granary
or box without the knowledge
of the owner, then shall he who took grain
without the knowledge of the
owner out of the granary or money
out of the box be legally convicted,
and repay the grain he has taken. And he shall
lose whatever commission was paid to
him, or due him.
114. If a man have no claim on
another for grain or
money, and try to demand it by
force, he shall pay one-third of a
mina of silver in every case.
115.
If any one have a claim for grain or money upon
another and imprison him; if the prisoner
die in prison a natural
death, the case shall go no further.
116. If the prisoner die in
prison from blows or maltreatment, the master of the prisoner shall
convict the merchant before the
judge. If he was a
free-born
man, the
son of the merchant shall be put to
death; if he was a
slave, he shall pay one-third
of a mina of gold, and all that the
master of the prisoner gave he shall
forfeit.
117. If any one fails to meet a claim for
debt, and sell
himself, his wife, his
son, and daughter for
money or gives them away to
forced labor: they shall
work for three years in the
house of the
man who bought them, or the
proprietor, and in the fourth year they shall be set
free.
118. If he gives a
male or
female
slave away for
forced labor, and the merchant
subleases them, or sells them for money, no objection can be raised.
119. If any one fails to meet a claim for
debt, and he
sells the maid servant who has borne him children, for
money, the
money which the merchant has paid
shall be repaid to the merchant by the owner of the
slave and she shall be
freed.
120. If any one store
grain for safe keeping in another's
house, and any
harm happen to the grain in storage,
or if the owner of the house
open the granary and take some of the grain, or if he denies that the grain was
stored in his house: then the
owner of the grain shall claim his grain before
god (on oath), and the owner of the
house shall pay the grain's
owner for the grain taken.
121. If any one stores grain in
another
man's
house he shall pay him
storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of grain per year.
122. If any one give another
silver, gold, or anything else to keep, he shall show
everything to some witness, draw up a contract, and then
hand it over for safe keeping.
123. If he turn it over for safe keeping
without witness or contract,
and if he to whom it was given deny it, then he has no legitimate claim.
124. If any one deliver silver,
gold, or anything else to
another for safe keeping, before a
witness, but he deny it, he shall be brought before a
judge, and all that he has denied he
shall pay in full.
125. If any one place his property with
another for safe keeping, and there,
either through thieves or robbers, his
property and the property of the other
man be lost, the owner of the
house, through whose neglect
the loss took place, shall compensate
the owner for all that was given to him in charge. But the owner of the
house shall try to follow up
and recover his property, and take it away from the thief.
126. If any
one who has not lost his goods state that they have been lost, and make false
claims: if he claim his goods and amount of injury before
god, even though he has not lost
them, he shall be fully compensated for all his
loss claimed.
127. If any one
"point the finger" (slander) at a ‘sister of a
god' or the
wife of any one, and can not prove it,
this man shall be taken before the
judges and his brow shall be marked by cutting the skin.
128. If a
man take a
woman to
wife, but have no intercourse with her,
this woman is no
wife to him. 129. If a
man's
wife be surprised (in flagrante delicto)
with another
man, both shall be tied and thrown
into the river, but the husband may pardon
his wife and the
king his
slaves.
130. If a
man violate the
wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another
man, who has never known a
man, and still lives in her
father's
house, and sleep with her and
be surprised, this man shall be put
to death, but the
wife is blameless.
131. If a
man bring a charge against one's
wife, but she is not surprised with
another
man, she must take an oath and then
may return to her house.
132. If the "finger is pointed" at a
man's
wife about
another
man, but she is not caught sleeping
with the other
man, she shall jump into the river
for her husband.
133. If a
man is taken prisoner in
war, and there is sustenance in his
house, but his
wife leave
house and court, and go to
another
house: because this
wife did not keep her court, and went to
another
house, she shall be
judicially condemned and thrown into the river.
134. If any one is
captured in war and there is not
sustenance in his house, if
then his wife go to
another
house this
woman shall be held blameless.
135. If a man be taken
prisoner in war and there is no
sustenance in his house and
his wife goes to
another
house and bear children; and
if later her husband return and come to
his home: then this wife shall return to
her husband, but the children follow their
father.
136. If any one leave his
house, runs away, and then
his wife goes to
another
house, if then he return, and
wishes to take his
wife back: because he fled from his home
and ran away, the wife of this runaway
shall not return to her husband.
137. If a
man wish to separate from a
woman who has borne him children,
or from his wife who has borne him
children: then he shall give that wife her
dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and property, so that she can rear
her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is
given to the children, equal as that
of one son, shall be given to her. She may
then marry the man of her
heart.
138. If a
man wishes to separate from his
wife who has borne him no children, he
shall give her the amount of her purchase
money and the dowry which she
brought from her father's
house, and let her go.
139. If there was no purchase price he shall give her one mina of
gold as a gift of release.
140. If he
be a freed
man he shall give her one-third of a
mina of gold.
141. If a
man's
wife, who lives in his
house,
wishes to leave it, plunges into
debt, tries to
ruin her house, neglects her
husband, and is judicially
convicted: if her
husband offer her release, she may go on
her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her
husband does not
wish to release her, and if he take
another wife, she shall remain as servant in her
husband's
house.
142. If a
woman quarrel with her
husband, and say: "You are not congenial
to me," the reasons for her prejudice
must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no
fault on her part, but he leaves and
neglects her, then no guilt
attaches to this woman, she shall
take her dowry and go back to her father's
house.
143. If she is
not innocent, but leaves her husband, and
ruins her house, neglecting
her husband, this
woman shall be cast into the river.
144. If a man take a
wife and this
woman give her
husband a maid-servant, and she bear him
children, but this man
wishes to take
another wife, this shall not be permitted to him; he
shall not take a second wife.
145.
If a man take a
wife, and she bear him no children, and he
intend to take another
wife: if he take this second
wife, and bring her into the
house, this second
wife shall not be allowed
equality with his
wife.
146. If a
man take a
wife and she give this
man a maid-servant as
wife and she bear him children, and then
this maid assume equality with the
wife: because she has borne him children
her master shall not sell her for
money, but he may keep her as a
slave, reckoning her among the
maid-servants.
147. If she have not borne him children, then her
mistress may sell her for money.
148. If a man take a
wife, and she be seized by disease, if he
then desire to take a second
wife he shall not put away his
wife, who has been attacked by disease,
but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and
support her so long as she lives.
149. If this
woman does not
wish to remain in her
husband's
house, then he shall
compensate her for the dowry that she brought with her from her
father's
house, and she may go.
150. If a man gives his
wife a field,
garden, and
house and a deed therefor, if
then after the death of her
husband the sons raise no claim, then the
mother may bequeath all to one of her
sons whom she prefers, and need leave
nothing to his brothers.
151.
If a woman who
lived in a
man's
house made an agreement with
her husband, that no creditor can arrest
her, and has given a document therefor: if that
man, before he married that
woman, had a
debt, the
creditor can not hold the woman for
it. But if the woman, before she
entered the man's
house, had contracted a
debt, her
creditor can not arrest her husband
therefore.
152. If after the woman had entered the
man's
house, both contracted a
debt, both must
pay the merchant.
153. If the wife
of one man on account of
another
man has their mates (her
husband and the
other
man's
wife) killed, both of them shall be impaled.
154. If a man be
guilty of
incest with his
daughter, he shall be
exiled.
155. If a
man betroth a girl to his
son, and his
son have intercourse with her, but the
father afterward
defile her, and be surprised, then he shall
be bound and cast into the river.
156. If a
man betroth a girl to his
son, but his
son has not
known her, and if then he
defile her, he shall pay her half a
gold mina, and compensate her for all that
she brought out of her father's
house. She may then marry the
man of her
heart.
157.
If any one be guilty of
incest with his
mother, both shall be
burned.
158. If any one be
surprised with his father's chief
wife, who has borne children, he shall be
driven out of his father's
house.
159. If any
one, who has brought property into his father-in-law's
house, and has paid the
purchase money, looks for
another wife, and says to his
father-in-law's: "I do not want your
daughter," the girl's
father may keep all that he had brought.
160. If a man bring property
into the house of his
father-in-law, and pay the "purchase price" (for his
wife): if then the
father of the girl say: "I will not give
you my daughter," he shall give him back
all that he brought with him.
161. If a
man bring property into his
father-in-law's
house and pay the "purchase
price," if then his friend slander him, and his
father-in-law say to the young
husband: "You shall not marry my
daughter," the he shall give back to him
undiminished all that he had brought with him; but his
wife shall not be married to the friend.
162. If a man marry a
woman, and she bear sons to him; if
then this woman
dies, then shall her
father have no claim on her dowry; this
belongs to her sons.
163. If a man marry a
woman and she bear him no sons; if
then this woman
dies, if the "purchase price" which he
had paid into the house of
his father-in-law is repaid to him, her
husband shall have no claim upon the dowry
of this woman; it belongs to her
father's
house.
164. If his
father-in-law does not pay back to him the amount of
the "purchase price" he may subtract the amount of the "purchase price" from
the dowry, and then pay the remainder to her father's
house.
165. If a
man gives to one of his sons whom he
prefers a field, garden, and
house, and a deed therefor:
if later the father
die, and the
brothers
divide the estate, then they
shall first give him the present of his father, and he shall accept it; and the rest
of the paternal property shall they
divide.
166. If a
man take wives for his sons, but take
no wife for his minor
son, and if then he
die: if the sons
divide the estate, they shall
set aside besides his portion the money for the "purchase price" for the
minor brother who had taken no
wife as yet, and secure a
wife for him.
167. If a
man marry a
wife and she bear him children: if this
wife die and he then take
another wife and she bear him children: if then the
father die, the
sons must not partition the estate
according to the mothers, they
shall divide the dowries of
their mothers only in this way; the
paternal estate they shall divide
equally with one
another.
168. If a
man wish to put his
son out of his
house, and declare before the
judge: "I want to put my
son out," then the
judge shall examine his reasons. If the
son be
guilty of no great
fault, for which he can be rightfully
put out, the father shall not put him out.
169. If he be guilty
of a grave fault, which should
rightfully deprive him of the filial relationship, the
father shall forgive him the first time;
but if he be guilty of a grave
fault a second time the
father may deprive his
son of all filial relation.
170.
If his wife bear sons to a
man, or his maid-servant have borne
sons, and the father while still living
says to the children whom his maid-servant has borne: "My sons," and he count
them with the sons of his wife; if then
the father
die, then the sons of the
wife and of the maid-servant shall
divide the paternal property
in common. The son of the
wife is to partition and choose.
171. If, however, the father while
still living did not say to the sons of the maid-servant: "My sons," and then
the father
dies, then the sons of the maid-servant
shall not share with the sons of the wife,
but the freedom of the maid and her sons shall be granted. The sons of the
wife shall have no right to enslave the
sons of the maid; the wife shall take her
dowry (from her father), and the gift that
her husband gave her and deeded to her
(separate from dowry, or the purchase money paid her
father), and
live in the home of her
husband: so long as she lives she shall
use it, it shall not be sold for money. Whatever she leaves shall belong
to her children.
172. If her husband made her no gift, she shall be
compensated for her gift, and she shall receive a portion from the estate of
her husband,
equal to that of one child. If her
sons oppress her, to force her out
of the house, the
judge shall examine the matter, and if
the sons are at fault the
woman shall not leave her
husband's
house. If the
woman
desires to leave the
house, she must leave to her
sons the gift which her husband gave her,
but she may take the dowry of her father's
house. Then she may marry the
man of her
heart.
173. If this
woman bear sons to her second
husband, in the place to which she went,
and then die, her earlier and later sons
shall divide the dowry between
them.
174. If she bear no sons to her second
husband, the sons of her first
husband shall have the dowry.
175.
If a State slave or the
slave of a
freed
man marry the
daughter of a
free
man, and children are born, the
master of the
slave shall have no right to
enslave the children of the free.
176. If, however, a State slave or the
slave of a
freed
man marry a
man's
daughter, and after he marries her she
bring a dowry from a father's
house, if then they both
enjoy it and found a
household, and accumulate means,
if then the slave
die, then she who was
free born may take her dowry, and all
that her husband and she had earned; she
shall divide them into two
parts, one-half the master of the
slave shall take, and the
other half shall the
free-born
woman take for her children. If the
free-born
woman had no gift she shall take
all that her husband and she had earned
and divide it into two parts;
and the master of the
slave shall take one-half and
she shall take the other for her
children.
177. If a widow, whose children are not grown,
wishes to enter
another
house (remarry), she shall
not enter it without the
knowledge of the judge. If she enter
another
house the
judge shall examine the state of the
house of her first
husband. Then the
house of her first
husband shall be
entrusted to the second
husband and the
woman herself as managers. And a
record must be made thereof. She shall keep the
house in order, bring up the
children, and not sell the house-hold utensils. He who buys
the utensils of the children of a widow shall
lose his
money, and the goods shall return to
their owners.
178. If a "devoted
woman" or a prostitute to whom her
father has given a dowry and a deed
therefore, but if in this deed it is not stated that she may bequeath it as she
pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal; if
then her father
die, then her
brothers shall hold her field and
garden, and give her grain,
oil, and milk according to her
portion, and satisfy her. If her brothers do not give her grain,
oil, and milk according to her
share, then her field and garden shall
support her. She shall have the usufruct of field and
garden and all that her
father gave her so long as she lives, but
she can not sell or assign it to others. Her estate belongs to her
brothers.
179. If a "sister of a
god," or a prostitute, receive a gift
from her father, and a deed in which it
has been explicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give
her complete disposition thereof: if then her father die, then she may leave her property to
whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers
can raise no claim thereto.
180. If a father give a present to his
daughter, either marriageable or a
prostitute, and then die, then she is to
receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and
enjoy its usufruct so long as she
lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
181. If a
father devote a
temple-virgin to
god and give her no present: if then
the father
die, she shall receive the third of a
child's portion from the inheritance of her
father's
house, and
enjoy its usufruct so long as she
lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
182. If a
father devote his
daughter as a
wife of Mardi of Babylon (as in 181), and
give her no present, nor a deed; if then her father die, then shall she receive one-third of her
portion as a child of her father's
house from her
brothers, but
Marduk's
temple-virgin may leave her
estate to whomsoever she wishes.
183. If a man give his
daughter by a concubine a dowry, and a
husband, and a deed; if then her
father die, she shall receive no portion from the
paternal estate.
184. If a man does not give a dowry to his
daughter by a concubine, and no
husband; if then her
father dies, her
brother shall give her a dowry
according to her father's
wealth and secure a
husband for her.
185. If a
man adopt a child and to his name as
son, and rear him, this grown
son can not be demanded back again.
186. If a man adopt a
son, and if after he has taken him he
injure his foster
father and
mother, then this adopted
son shall return to his
father's
house.
187. The
son of a paramour in the palace
service, or of a prostitute,
can not be demanded back.
188. If an artisan has undertaken to rear a
child and teaches him his craft, he can not
be demanded back.
189. If he has not taught him his craft, this adopted
son may return to his
father's
house.
190. If a
man does not maintain a child that he
has adopted as a son and reared with his
other children, then his adopted
son may return to his
father's
house.
191. If a
man, who had adopted a
son and reared him, founded a
household, and had children,
wish to put this adopted
son out, then this
son shall not simply go his way. His
adoptive father shall give him of his
wealth one-third of a child's portion, and
then he may go. He shall not give him of the field,
garden, and
house.
192. If a
son of a paramour or a prostitute say to
his adoptive father or
mother: "You are not my
father, or my
mother," his tongue shall be cut off.
193. If the son of a paramour or a
prostitute desire his
father's
house, and desert his
adoptive father and adoptive
mother, and goes to his
father's
house, then shall his eye be
put out.
194. If a
man give his child to a nurse and the
child die in her
hand, but the nurse unbeknown to
the father and
mother nurse
another child, then they shall
convict her of having nursed
another child
without the knowledge of the
father and
mother and her breasts shall be cut off.
195. If a son strike his
father, his
hand shall be hewn off.
196. If a man put out the eye
of another
man, his eye shall be put out.
197. If he break another
man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a
freed
man, he shall pay one
gold mina.
199. If he put out the eye
of a man's
slave, or break the bone of a
man's
slave, he shall pay one-half
of its value.
200. If a
man knock out the teeth of his
equal, his teeth shall be knocked
out.
201. If he knock out the teeth of a
freed
man, he shall pay one-third of a
gold mina.
202. If any one strike the
body of a man higher in rank than he,
he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in
public.
203. If a free-born
man strike the body of
another free-born
man or
equal rank, he shall pay one
gold mina.
204. If a
freed
man strike the body of
another freed man, he shall pay ten
shekels in
money.
205. If the
slave of a
freed
man strike the body of a
freed
man, his ear shall be cut off.
206. If during a quarrel one man strike
another and
wound him, then he shall swear, "I did
not injure him wittingly," and pay the
physicians.
207. If the man
die of his
wound, he shall swear similarly, and if
he (the deceased) was a free-born
man, he shall pay half a mina in
money.
208. If he was a
freed
man, he shall pay one-third of a
mina.
209. If a man strike a
free-born
woman so that she
lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten
shekels for her
loss.
210. If the
woman
die, his daughter shall be put to
death.
211. If a
woman of the
free class
lose her child by a blow, he shall pay
five shekels in
money.
212. If this
woman
die, he shall pay half a mina.
213. If he strike the maid-servant of a
man, and she
lose her child, he shall pay two
shekels in
money.
214. If this
maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third
of a mina.
215. If a physician make a large incision with an operating
knife and cure it, or if he open a tumor (over the eye) with an operating
knife, and saves the eye, he shall receive ten
shekels in
money.
216. If the patient
be a freed
man, he receives five
shekels.
217. If he be the
slave of some one, his owner
shall give the physician two shekels.
218. If a physician
make a large incision with the operating knife, and kill him, or open a tumor with the operating knife,
and cut out the eye, his hand shall
be cut off.
219. If a physician make a large incision in the
slave of a
freed
man, and kill him, he shall replace the
slave with
another
slave.
220. If he had
opened a tumor with the operating knife, and put out his eye, he shall pay half
his value.
221. If a physician heal
the broken bone or diseased soft part of a
man, the patient shall pay the
physician five shekels in
money.
222. If he were a
freed
man he shall pay three
shekels.
223. If he were a
slave his owner shall pay the
physician two shekels.
224.
If a veterinary surgeon performs a serious operation on an ass or an
ox, and cures it, the owner shall pay the
surgeon one-sixth of a shekel as a
fee.
225. If he perform a serious operation on an ass or
ox, and kill it,
he shall pay the owner one-fourth of its value.
226. If a barber,
without the knowledge of his
master, cut the sign of a
slave on a
slave not to be sold, the
hands of this barber shall be cut
off.
227. If any one deceive a
barber, and have him mark a slave not for sale with the sign
of a slave, he shall be put to
death, and buried in his
house. The barber shall
swear: "I did not mark him wittingly," and shall be guiltless.
228. If
a builder build a house for
some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two
shekels in
money for each sar of surface.
229 If a builder build a house for some one, and does not
construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and
kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to
death.
230. If it
kill the son
of the owner the son of that builder shall
be put to death.
231. If it
kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay
slave for
slave to the owner of the
house.
232. If it
ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and
inasmuch as he did not construct properly this
house which he built and it
fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though
he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must
make the walls solid from his own means.
234. If a shipbuilder build a
boat of sixty gur for a man, he shall
pay him a fee of two shekels in
money.
235. If a shipbuilder
build a boat for some one, and does not make it tight, if during that same year
that boat is sent away and suffers injury,
the shipbuilder shall take the boat apart and put it together tight at his own
expense. The tight boat he shall give to the boat owner.
236. If a
man rent his boat to a sailor, and
the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor
shall give the owner of the boat another
boat as compensation.
237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and
provide it with grain, clothing, oil and dates, and
other things of the
category needed for fitting
it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is wrecked, and its contents ruined,
then the sailor shall compensate for the boat which was wrecked and all in it
that he ruined.
238. If a sailor wreck any one's ship, but saves it, he
shall pay the half of its value in
money.
239. If a
man hire a sailor, he shall pay him
six gur of grain per year.
240. If a
merchantman run against a ferryboat,
and wreck it, the master of the ship that
was wrecked shall seek justice before god; the
master of the
merchantman, which wrecked the
ferryboat, must compensate the owner for the boat and all that he ruined.
241. If any one impresses an ox for
forced labor, he shall pay one-third
of a mina in money.
242. If
any one hire oxen for a year, he shall pay four gur of grain for plow-oxen.
243. As rent of herd cattle he shall
pay three gur of grain to the owner.
244. If any one hire an
ox or an ass, and a lion
kill it in the field, the
loss is upon its owner.
245. If
any one hire oxen, and kill them by bad treatment
or blows, he shall compensate the owner, oxen for oxen.
246. If a
man hire an
ox, and he break its leg or cut the ligament of
its neck, he shall compensate the owner with ox
for ox.
247. If any one hire an
ox, and put out its eye, he shall pay the owner
one-half of its value.
248. If any
one hire an ox, and break off a horn, or cut
off its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he shall pay one-fourth of its
value in
money.
249. If any one hire
an ox, and
god strikes it that it
dies, the
man who hired it shall swear by
god and be considered guiltless.
250. If while an ox is passing some one
kill it, the ox
owner can set up no claim against the hirer.
251. If an
ox is a goring ox, and it shown that he is a gorer, and the owner
does not bind his horns, or fasten the ox up,
and the ox gore a
free-born
man and kill him, the owner shall pay one-half a mina in
money.
252. If he
kill a man's
slave, he shall pay one-third
of a mina.
253. If any one agrees with
another to tend his field, give him seed,
entrust a yoke of oxen to him, and
bind him to cultivate the field, if he steal the grain or plants, and take them
for himself, his hands shall be
hewn off.
254. If he take the seed-grain for himself, and does not use
the yoke of oxen, he shall compensate him for the amount of the seed-grain.
255. If he sublet the man's
yoke of oxen or steal the seed-grain, planting nothing in the field, he shall
be convicted, and for each one
hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of grain.
256. If his community will
not pay for him, then he shall be placed in that field with the
cattle to work.
257. If any one hire a field
laborer, he shall pay him eight gur of grain per year.
258. If any one
hire an ox-driver, he shall pay him six gur of
grain per year.
259. If any one steal a
water-wheel from the field, he shall pay
five shekels in
money to its owner.
260. If
any one steal a shadduf (used to draw water from the river or canal) or a plow,
he shall pay three shekels in
money.
261. If any one hire a
herdsman for
cattle or sheep, he shall pay him eight gur of grain per
annum.
262. If any one, a cow or a sheep ...
263. If he
kill the cattle
or sheep that were given to him, he shall
compensate the owner with cattle for
cattle and sheep for sheep.
264. If a herdsman, to whom
cattle or sheep
have been entrusted for watching
over, and who has received his wages as agreed upon, and is satisfied, diminish
the number of the cattle or
sheep, or make the increase by birth less, he
shall make good the increase or profit which was lost in the terms of
settlement.
265. If a
herdsman, to whose care
cattle or sheep
have been entrusted, be
guilty of fraud and make
false returns of the
natural increase, or sell them for
money, then shall he be
convicted and pay the owner ten times
the loss.
266. If the animal be
killed in the stable by
god (an accident), or if a lion
kill it, the
herdsman shall declare his innocence
before god, and the owner bears the
accident in the stable.
267. If the
herdsman overlooks something, and an
accident happens in the stable, then the herdsman is at
fault for the accident which he has
caused in the stable, and he must compensate the owner for the
cattle or sheep.
268. If any one hire an
ox for threshing, the amount of the hire is
twenty ka of grain.
269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire is
twenty ka of grain.
270. If he hire a young animal for threshing, the
hire is ten ka of grain.
271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he
shall pay one hundred and eighty ka of grain per
day.
272. If any one hire a cart
alone, he shall pay forty ka of grain per day.
273. If any one hire a
day laborer, he shall pay him from the
New Year until the fifth month (April to August, when
days are long and the
work hard) six gerahs in
money per
day; from the sixth month to the end of
the year he shall give him five gerahs per day.
274. If any one hire a skilled
artisan, he shall pay as wages of the potter five gerahs, of a tailor five
gerahs, of a ropemaker four gerahs, of a mason four gerahs per
day.
275. If any one hire a
ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs per day.
276. If he hire a
freight-boat, he shall pay two and one-half gerahs per
day.
277. If any one hire a ship
of sixty gur, he shall pay one-sixth of a shekel in
money as its hire per
day.
278. If any one buy a
male or
female
slave, and before a month has
elapsed disease show itself, he shall return the
slave to the seller, and
receive the money which he had paid.
279. If any one buys a male
or female
slave, and a third party claim
it, the seller is liable for the claim.
280. If while in a foreign
country a man buys a
male or
female
slave belonging to
another of his own country; if when he
return home the owner of the male or
female
slave recognize it: if the
male or
female
slave be a native of the
country, he shall give the slave back
without any
money.
281. If they are from
another country, the buyer shall declare
the amount of money paid therefore
to the merchant, and keep the male
or female
slave.
282. If a
slave say to his
master: "You are not my
master," if they
convict him his
master shall cut off his ear.
These are the laws of justice which Hammurabi, the wise
king, established. A righteous
law, and pious statute did Hammurabi teach
the land. Hammurabi, the
protecting
king am I. I have not withdrawn myself
from men, whom Bel gave to me, the
rule over whom
Marduk gave to me, I was not
negligent, but I made them a peaceful
homeland. I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon my
subjects. With the mighty weapons
which Zamama and Ishtar
entrusted to me, with the keen vision
with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom
that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted
the enemy in north and south, subdued
the Earth, brought prosperity to the
land and guaranteed security to the
inhabitants in their homes.
The great
Anunaki have called me, I am the
salvation bearing shepherd, whose
staff is straight; on my breast I cherish the inhabitants of the
land of
Sumer and
Akkad; in my shelter I have let
them repose in peace; in my deep
wisdom have I
enwrapped them.
That the strong might not
injure the weak, in order to
protect the widows and orphans, in
order to bespeak justice in the
land, to settle all disputes, and heal
all injuries I set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone,
as king of
righteousness. The
king who
rules the kings of the cities Hammurabi
am I. My words are well considered; there is
no wisdom like unto mine. By the
command of
Shamash, the great
judge of
heaven and Earth, let
righteousness go forth in the
land: by the order of
Marduk, my lord, let no
destruction befall my monument.
In heaven, let my name be ever repeated;
let the oppressed come and stand
before this my image as
king of
righteousness; let him
read the inscription, and understand my
precious words: the inscription will
explain his case to
him; he will find out what is just, and his
heart will be glad, so that he will
say:
"Hammurabi is a ruler, who is as a
father to his subjects, who holds the
words of
Marduk in
reverence, who has achieved conquest for
Marduk over the north and south, who
rejoices the heart of
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