§ 172

Law § 172 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If her husband did not give her a wedding gift, they shall restore to her a dowry and she shall take the same share as a single heir from the property in the house of her husband. If her sons begin to pester her to make her leave the house, the judges shall make the decisions about her affairs and the sons shall bear the blame. That woman does not have to leave her husband's house. If that woman has made the decision to leave, she shall leave the gift her husband gave her for her sons. She shall take the dowry from her father's house. She shall choose a husband she likes.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Inheritance

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22, col. R XIII, lns. 6–40)

Transliteration

šum-ma mu-za nu-du-un-na-am la id-di-iš-ši-im še-ri-iḳ-ta-ša u-ša-la-mu-ši-im-ma i-na ŠA.GA bît mu-ti-ša ṣi-it-tam ki-ma ablim iš-te-en i-li-ḳi šum-ma mârê-ša aš-šum i-na bîtim šu-zi-im u-za-aḫ-ḫa-mu-ši da-a-a-nu wa-ar-ka-za i-par-ra-su-ma mârê ar-nam i-im-mi-du zinništum ši-i i-na bît mu-ti-ša u-ul uz-zi šum-ma zinništum ši-i a-na wa-ṣi-im pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an nu-du-un-na-am ša mu-za id-di-nu-ši-im a-na mârê-ša i-iz-zi-ib še-ri-iḳ-tam ša bît a-bi-ša i-li-ḳi-ma mu-ut li-ib-bi-ša i-iḫ-ḫa-az-zi

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 76f.)

Normalization

šumma mussa nudunnâm la iddiššim, šeriktaša ušallamūšimma ina makkūr bīt mutiša zittam kīma aplim ištēn ileqqe. šumma mārūša aššum ina bītim šūṣîm usaḫḫamūši, dayyānū warkassa iparrasūma mārī arnam immidū. sinništum šî ina bīt mutiša ul uṣṣi šumma sinništum šî ana waṣêm panīša ištakan nudunnâm ša mussa iddinušim ana mārīša izzib. šeriktam ša bīt abiša ileqqēma. mut libbiša iḫḫassi.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 96)

Translation

If her husband did not give her a wedding gift, they shall restore to her a dowry and she shall take the same share as a single heir from the property in the house of her husband. If her sons begin to pester her to make her leave the house, the judges shall make the decisions about her affairs and the sons shall bear the blame. That woman does not have to leave her husband's house. If that woman has made the decision to leave, she shall leave the gift her husband gave her for her sons. She shall take the dowry from her father's house. She shall choose a husband she likes.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 97)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 172 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/172. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 172 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/172

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 172 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 1, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/172.

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]

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§ 172

Law § 172 of Hammurabi's Code

Cuneiform

Transliteration

Normalization

Translation

Citation

Bibliography