§ 177

Law § 177 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If a widow whose children are very young has decided to enter the house of another man, she will not enter without the consent of the judges; when she enters the house of another man, the judges will investigate the circumstances of her previous husband’s estate, and assign the estate of her previous husband to her future husband and that woman, and have them make out a document; they will look after the estate and raise the young children; they will not sell the furnishings; the buyer who buys the furnishings of the widow’s children will forfeit his silver; the property will return to its owner.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Inheritance

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 23, col. R XIV, lns. 22–60)

Transliteration

šum-ma NU.MU.SU ša DUMU.MEŠ-ša ṣe-eḫ-ḫe-ru a-na É ša-ni-im e-re-bi-im pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an ba-lum da-a-a-ni ú-ul i-ir-ru-ub i-nu-ma a-na É ša-ni-im i-ir-ru-bu da-a-a-nu wa-ar-ka-at É mu-ti-ša pa-ni-im i-pár-ra-su-ma É ša mu-ti-ša pa-ni-im a-na mu-ti-ša wa-ar-ki-im ù MUNUS šu-a-ti i-pa-aq-qí-du-ma DUB-pa-am ú-še-ez-ze-bu-šu-nu-ti É i-na-ṣa-ru ù ṣe-eḫ-ḫe-ru-tim ú-ra-ab-bu-ú ú-ni-a-tim a-na KUG.BABBAR ú-ul i-na-ad-di-nu ša-a-a-ma-nu-um ša ú-nu-ut DUMU.MEŠ NU.MU.SU i-ša-am-mu i-na KUG.BABBAR-šu i-te-el-li NÍG.GA a-na be-lí-šu i-ta-ar

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 351)

Normalization

šumma almattum ša mārūša ṣeḫḫerū ana bīt(im) šanîm erēbim pānīša ištakan, balum dayyānī ul irrub; inūma ana bīt(im) šanîm irrubu, dayyānū warkat bīt mutīša pānîm iparrasū-ma bītam ša mutīša pānîm ana mutīša warkîm u sinništim šuāti ipaqqidū-ma ṭuppam ušezzebūšunūti; bītam inaṣṣarū u ṣeḫḫerūtim urabbû; uniātim ana kaspim ul inaddinū; šayyāmānum ša unūt mārī almattim išammu ina kaspīšu ītelli; makkūrum ana bēlīšu itâr.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 88)

Translation

If a widow whose children are very young has decided to enter the house of another man, she will not enter without the consent of the judges; when she enters the house of another man, the judges will investigate the circumstances of her previous husband’s estate, and assign the estate of her previous husband to her future husband and that woman, and have them make out a document; they will look after the estate and raise the young children; they will not sell the furnishings; the buyer who buys the furnishings of the widow’s children will forfeit his silver; the property will return to its owner.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 88)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 177 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/177. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 177 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/177

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 177 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 4, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/177.

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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§ 177

Law § 177 of Hammurabi's Code

Cuneiform

Transliteration

Normalization

Translation

Citation

Bibliography