§ 163

Law § 163 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man married a wife but she did not cause him to get children, (and) that woman has passed on, if his father-in-law has returned to him the bride-price that that man brought to his father-in-law’s house, her husband will not lay claim to the dowry of that woman; her dowry belongs to her father’s house alone.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family Abuse and Marriage

Cuneiform

Law § 163 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 20, col. R XI, lns. 7–23)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum aš-ša-tam i-ḫu-uz-ma DUMU.MEŠ la ú-šar-ši-šu MUNUS ši-i a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-la-ak šum-ma ter-ḫa-tam ša a-wi-lum šu-ú a-na É e-mi-šu ub-lu e-mu-šu ut-te-er-šum a-na še-ri-ik-ti MUNUS šu-a-ti mu-sà ú-ul i-ra-ag-gu-um še-ri-ik-ta-ša ša É a-bi-ša-ma

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 83)

Normalization

šumma awīlum aššatam īḫuz-ma mārī lā ušaršīšu, sinništum šī ana šīmtim ittalak, šumma terḫatam ša awīlum šū ana bīt emīšu ublu emūšu uttēršum, ana šerikti sinništim šuāti mussa ul iraggum; šeriktaša ša bīt abīšā-ma.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 83)

Translation

If a man married a wife but she did not cause him to get children, (and) that woman has passed on, if his father-in-law has returned to him the bride-price that that man brought to his father-in-law’s house, her husband will not lay claim to the dowry of that woman; her dowry belongs to her father’s house alone.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 83)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 163 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/163. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 163 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/163

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 163 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 1, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/163.

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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