§ 137

Law § 137 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man has decided to divorce a junior wife who bore him children or a nadītum who provided him with children, that woman’s dowry will be returned to her; further half of the field, orchard, and property will be given to her so that she may raise her children; after she has raised her children she will be given a share like (that of) an individual heir from whatever was given to her children, and then the man of her heart may marry her.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family and Divorce

Cuneiform

Law § 137 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 16–17, col. R VI–VII, lns. 73–85; 1–13)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum a-na míšu-gi4-tim ša DUMU.MEŠ ul-du-šum ù lu LUKUR ša DUMU.MEŠ ú-šar-šu-šu e-zé-bi-im pa-ni-šu iš-ta-ka-an a-na MUNUS šu-a-ti še-ri-ik-ta-ša ú-ta-ar-ru-ši-im ù mu-ut-ta-at A.ŠÀ KIRI6 ù bi-ši-im i-na-ad-di-nu-ši-im-ma DUMU.MEŠ-ša ú-ra-ab-ba iš-tu DUMU.MEŠ-ša úr-ta-ab-bu-ú i-na mi-im-ma ša a-na DUMU.MEŠ-ša in-na-ad-nu zí-it-tam ki-ma ap-lim iš-te-en i-na-ad-di-nu-ši-im-ma mu-tu li-ib-bi-ša i-iḫ-ḫa-as-sí

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 383)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ana šugītim ša mārī uldūšum ū lū nadītim ša mārī ušaršûšu ezēbim pānīšu ištakan, ana sinništim šuāti šeriktaša utarrūšim; u muttat eqlim kirîm u bīšim inaddinūšim-ma mārīša urabba; ištu mārīša urtabbû ina mimma ša ana mārīša innadnu zīttam kīma aplim ištēn inaddinūšim-ma mutu libbīša iḫḫassi.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 101)

Translation

If a man has decided to divorce a junior wife who bore him children or a nadītum who provided him with children, that woman’s dowry will be returned to her; further half of the field, orchard, and property will be given to her so that she may raise her children; after she has raised her children she will be given a share like (that of) an individual heir from whatever was given to her children, and then the man of her heart may marry her.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 101)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 137 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/137. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 137 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/137

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 137 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified December 27, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/137.

Bibliography

ACH

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

CHTP

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HKEY3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

–

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

RHL

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

SoT

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol is a shorthand notation for the word 'section'.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Normalization is the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Translation is the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Transliteration is the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another.

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