§ 132

Law § 132 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a finger has been pointed at an awīlum’s wife on account of another man but she has not been caught lying with another man, she will dive into the River for her husband.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Family and Divorce

Cuneiform

Law § 132 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 16, col. R V–VI, lns. 77–83; 1–6)

Transliteration

šum-ma aš-ša-at a-wi-lim aš-šum zi-ka-ri-im ša-ni-im ú-ba-nu-um e-li-ša it-ta-ri-iṣ-ma it-ti zi-ka-ri-im ša-ni-im i-na ú-tu-lim la it-ta-aṣ-ba-at a-na mu-ti-ša dÍD i-ša-al-li

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 400)

Normalization

šumma aššat awīlim aššum zikarim šanîm ubānum elīša ittariṣ-ma itti zikarim šanîm ina utūlim lā ittaṣbat ana mutīša Id išalli.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 106)

Translation

If a finger has been pointed at an awīlum’s wife on account of another man but she has not been caught lying with another man, she will dive into the River for her husband.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 106)

Glossary of useful terms

Key concepts, places, and persons

Mesopotamia (category: Location) "a Greek name for modern-day Iraq that means 'land between two rivers'"

River Challenge (category: Other) "the act of jumping into the Euphrates river to prove one's innocence, whereby death suggests guilt"

GrammarSnifferSM

Akkadian Words in Law § 132

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

awīlim (Noun form) Masculine Singular Genitive of awīlu "man"

Staff notes

  1. 'The River Challenge'
    Added on March 22, 2024 by eHammurabi Staff

    Only laws § 2 and § 132 seem to require a person to conduct the "River Challenge" to prove their innocence. Provision § 132 is interesting, though, because the woman is being asked to dive into the River even though no evidence has been brought against her.

    See also: § 2 · River Challenge

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 132 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 1 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/132. [Accessed 5 May. 2024]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 1). § 132 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/132

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 132 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 1, 2023. Modified March 28, 2024. Accessed May 5, 2024. https://ehlaw.org/law/132.

CMS 16

Bibliography

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

ACH

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

CHTP

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

HKEY3

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

–

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

RHL

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

SoT

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol commonly denotes "a shorthand notation for the word 'section'."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Cuneiform commonly means "an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Normalization commonly means "the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Translation commonly means "the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Transliteration commonly means "the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another."

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