§ 164

Law § 164 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If his father-in-law has not returned the bride-price, he shall subtract from the dowry the amount of the bride-price. He shall return her dowry to her father's house.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family Abuse and Marriage

Cuneiform

Law § 164 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 20, col. R XI, lns. 24–32)

Transliteration

šum-ma e-mu-šu tir-ḫa-tam la ut-te-ir-šum i-na še-ri-iḳ-ti-ša ma-la tir-ḫa-ti-ša i-ḫar-ra-aṣ-ma še-ri-iḳ-ta-ša a-na bît a-ta(=bi)-ša u-ta-ar

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 73)

Normalization

šumma emušu terḫatam la uttēršum, ina šeriktiša mala terḫatiša iḫarraṣma šeriktaša ana bīt abiša291 utâr.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 92)

Translation

If his father-in-law has not returned the bride-price, he shall subtract from the dowry the amount of the bride-price. He shall return her dowry to her father's house.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 93)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 164 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/164. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 164 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/164

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 164 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 1, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/164.

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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