§ 191

Law § 191 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man set up his household with a boy whom he adopted and raised, and afterwards has acquired sons and decided to remove the foster child, that child will not go off empty-handed; the father who raised him will give him out of his property a third of his inheritance and then he will go away; he will not give him any of the field, orchard, or house.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Children

Cuneiform

Law § 191 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 25–26, col. R XVI, lns. 75–95)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum ṣe-eḫ-ra-am ša a-na ma-ru-ti-šu il-qú-šu-ma ú-ra-ab-bu-ú-šu É-sú(! BA) i-pu-uš wa-ar-ka DUMU.MEŠ ir-ta-ši-ma a-na tar-bi-tim na-sa-ḫi-im pa-nam iš-ta-ka-an DUMU šu-ú ri-qú-sú ú-ul it-ta-al-la-ak a-bu-um mu-ra-bi-šu i-na NÍG.GA-šu IGI.3.GÁL IBILA-šu i-na-ad-di-iš-šum-ma it-ta-la-ak i-na A.ŠÀ KIRI6 ù É ú-ul i-na-ad-di-iš-šum

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 415)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ṣeḫram ša ana mārūtīšu ilqûšū-ma urabbûšu bīssu īpuš warka mārī irtašī-ma ana tarbītim nasāḫim pānam ištakan, mārum šū rīqūssu ul ittallak; abum murabbīšu ina makkūrīšu šalušti aplūtīšu inaddiššum-ma ittallak; ina eqlim kirîm u bītim ul inaddiššum.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 113)

Translation

If a man set up his household with a boy whom he adopted and raised, and afterwards has acquired sons and decided to remove the foster child, that child will not go off empty-handed; the father who raised him will give him out of his property a third of his inheritance and then he will go away; he will not give him any of the field, orchard, or house.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 113)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 191 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 5 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/191. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 5). § 191 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/191

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 191 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 5, 2023. Modified January 5, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/191.

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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