§ 145

Law § 145 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the inability of a man's first wife to produce children is sufficient for said man to marry another wife and bring her into the household.
Translation
If a man married a nadītum but she did not help him acquire children and he has decided to marry a šugītum, said man may marry a šugītum; he may bring her into his house; said šugītum will not compare herself with the nadītum.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family and Divorce

Cuneiform

Law § 145 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 18, col. R VIII, lns. 28–42)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum LUKUR i-ḫu-uz-ma DUMU.MEŠ la ú-šar-ši-šu-ma a-na míšu-gi4-tim a-ḫa-zi-im pa-ni-šu iš-ta-ka-an a-wi-lum šu-ú míšu-gi4-tam i-iḫ-ḫa-az a-na É-šu ú-še-er-re-eb-ši míšu-gi4-tum ši-i it-ti LUKUR ú-ul uš-ta-ma-aḫ-ḫa-ar

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 441)

Normalization

šumma awīlum nadītam īḫuz-ma mārī lā ušaršīšū-ma ana šugītim aḫāzim pānīšu ištakan, awīlum šū šugītam iḫḫaz; ana bītīšu ušerrebši; šugītum šī itti nadītim ul uštamaḫḫar.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 123)

Translation

If a man married a nadītum but she did not help him acquire children and he has decided to marry a šugītum, said man may marry a šugītum; he may bring her into his house; said šugītum will not compare herself with the nadītum.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 124)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 145 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/145. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 145 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/145

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 145 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified December 28, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/145.

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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