§ 171

Law § 171 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
But if the father during his life did not say to the children that the slave bore him, “my children,” after the father has passed on, the children of the slave will not share with the children of the wife in the property of the paternal estate; the freedom of the slave and her children will be established; the children of the wife may not claim the children of the slave for slavery; the wife will take her dowry and the wedding gift that her husband gave her (and) registered in a document for her, and live in her husband’s residence; she may use (it) as long as she is alive, (but) may not sell (it); her inheritance is her children’s only.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Inheritance

Cuneiform

Law § 171 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22, col. R XII–XIII, lns. 61–89; 1–5)

Transliteration

ù šum-ma a-bu-um i-na bu-ul-ṭì-šu a-na DUMU.MEŠ ša GEME2 ul-du-šum DUMU.MEŠ-ú-a la iq-ta-bi wa-ar-ka a-bu-um a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-al-ku i-na NÍG.GA É A.BA DUMU.MEŠ GEME2 it-ti DUMU.MEŠ ḫi-ir-tim ú-ul i-zu-uz-zu an-du-ra-ar GEME2 ù DUMU.MEŠ-ša iš-ša!(TA)-ak-ka-an DUMU.MEŠ ḫi-ir-tim a-na DUMU.MEŠ GEME2 a-na wa-ar-du-tim ú-ul i-ra-ag-gu-mu ḫi-ir-tum še-ri-ik-ta-ša ù nu-du-na-am ša mu-sà id-di-nu-ši-im i-na DUB-pí-im iš-ṭú-ru-ši-im i-le-qé-ma i-na šu-ba-at mu-ti-ša uš-ša-ab a-di ba-al-ṭa-at i-ik-ka-al a-na KUG.BABBAR ú-ul i-na-ad-di-in wa-ar-ka-sà ša DUMU.MEŠ-ša-ma

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 291)

Normalization

u šumma abum ina bulṭīšu ana mārī ša amtum uldūšum “mārūya” lā iqtabi, warka abum ana šīmtim ittalku ina makkūr bīt abim mārū amtim itti mārī ḫīrtim ul izuzzū; andurār amtim u mārīša iššakkan; mārū ḫīrtim ana mārī amtim ana wardūtim ul iraggumū; ḫīrtum šeriktaša u nudunnâm ša mussa iddinūšim ina ṭuppim išṭurūšim ileqqē-ma ina šubat mutīša uššab; adi balṭat ikkal; ana kaspim ul inaddin; warkassa ša mārīšā-ma.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 69)

Translation

But if the father during his life did not say to the children that the slave bore him, “my children,” after the father has passed on, the children of the slave will not share with the children of the wife in the property of the paternal estate; the freedom of the slave and her children will be established; the children of the wife may not claim the children of the slave for slavery; the wife will take her dowry and the wedding gift that her husband gave her (and) registered in a document for her, and live in her husband’s residence; she may use (it) as long as she is alive, (but) may not sell (it); her inheritance is her children’s only.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 69)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 171 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/171. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 171 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/171

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 171 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 2, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/171.

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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