§ 142

Law § 142 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a woman detested her husband and has said, “you will not have me,” her circumstances will be investigated in her district, and if she has been vigilant and has no fault, but her husband goes out and treats her very badly, that woman has no offense; she may take her dowry and go off to her father’s house.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family and Divorce

Cuneiform

Law § 142 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 17–18, col. R VII–VIII, lns. 60–73; 1–5)

Transliteration

šum-ma MUNUS mu-sà i-ze-er-ma ú-ul ta-aḫ-ḫa-za-an-ni iq-ta-bi wa-ar-ka-sà i-na ba-ab-ti-ša ip-pa-ar-ra-ás-ma šum-ma na-aṣ-ra-at-ma ḫi-ṭi-tam la i-šu ù mu-sa6 wa-ṣí-ma ma-ga-al ú-ša-am-ṭa-ši MUNUS ši-i ar-nam ú-ul i-šu še-ri-ik-ta-ša i-le-qé-ma a-na É a-bi-ša it-ta-al-la-ak

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 400)

Normalization

šumma sinništum mussa izēr-ma “ul taḫḫazannī” iqtabi, warkassa ina bābtīša ipparras-ma šumma naṣrat-ma ḫiṭītam lā īšu u mussa waṣī-ma magal ušamṭāši, sinništum šī arnam ul īšu; šeriktaša ileqqē-ma ana bīt abīša ittallak.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 106)

Translation

If a woman detested her husband and has said, “you will not have me,” her circumstances will be investigated in her district, and if she has been vigilant and has no fault, but her husband goes out and treats her very badly, that woman has no offense; she may take her dowry and go off to her father’s house.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 106)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 142 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/142. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 142 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/142

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 142 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified February 2, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/142.

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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