§ 141

Law § 141 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man’s wife who was living in the man’s house has decided to leave and has been acquiring property illegally, squandering her own house, (and) belittling her husband, she will be convicted and, if her husband has ordered her divorce, he may divorce her; her travel provisions, her divorce payment, nothing will be given to her; if her husband has not ordered her divorce, her husband may (nevertheless) marry another woman; the aforesaid woman will dwell in her husband’s house as a slave.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family and Divorce

Cuneiform

Law § 141 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 17, col. R VII, lns. 33–59)

Transliteration

šum-ma aš-ša-at a-wi-lim ša i-na É a-wi-lim wa-aš-ba-at a-na wa-ṣe-em pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an-ma sí-ki-il-tam i-sà-ak-ki-il É-sà ú-sà-ap-pa-aḫ mu-sà ú-ša-am-ṭa ú-ka-an-nu-ši-ma šum-ma mu-sà e-zé-eb-ša iq-ta-bi i-iz-zi-ib-ši ha-ra-an-ša ú-zu-ub-bu-ša mi-im-ma ú-ul in-na-ad-di-iš-ši-im šum-ma mu-sà la e-zé-eb-ša iq-ta-bi mu-sà MUNUS ša-ni-tam i-iḫ-ḫa-az MUNUS ši-i ki-ma GEME2 i-na É mu-ti-ša uš-ša-ab

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 369)

Normalization

šumma aššat awīlim ša ina bīt awīlim wašbat ana waṣêm pānīša ištakam-ma sikiltam isakkil bīssa usappaḫ mussa ušamṭa, ukannūšī-ma, šumma mussa ezēbša iqtabi, izzibši; ḫarrāšša uzubbûša mimma ul innaddiššim; šumma mussa lā ezēbša iqtabi, mussa sinništam šanītam iḫḫaz; sinništum šī kīma amtim ina bīt mutīša uššab.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Translation

If a man’s wife who was living in the man’s house has decided to leave and has been acquiring property illegally, squandering her own house, (and) belittling her husband, she will be convicted and, if her husband has ordered her divorce, he may divorce her; her travel provisions, her divorce payment, nothing will be given to her; if her husband has not ordered her divorce, her husband may (nevertheless) marry another woman; the aforesaid woman will dwell in her husband’s house as a slave.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 141 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/141. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 141 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/141

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 141 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified December 28, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/141.

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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