§ 178

Law § 178 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If the father of a priestess or a temple-woman or a devotee has presented her with a dowry and written out a document for her but has not written on that document that she may dispose of her property in the way she thinks best or that he has empowered her to do what she likes, after he has passed to his destiny her brothers shall take the field or the orchard and make her comfortable by giving her food, oil and garments according to the size of her share. If her brothers have not made her comfortable by giving her food, oil and clothing according to the size of her share, she shall give her field or her orchard to a farmer she favours and he shall do the cultivation, and he shall support her. She shall enjoy the field, the orchard or anything else her father has given her as long as she lives. She shall not sell it for silver or become responsible to anyone else. Her inheritance belongs to her brothers.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Inheritance

Cuneiform

Law § 178 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 23–24, col. R XIV–XV, lns. 61–92; 1–19)

Transliteration

šum-ma NIN.AN ŠAL(?) u lu zinništum zi-ik-ru-um ša a-bu-ša še-ri-iḳ-tam iš-ru-ḳu-ši-im dup-pa-am iš-tu-ru-ši-im i-na dup-pi-im ša iš-tu-ru-ši-im wa-ar-ka-za e-ma e-li-ša ṭa-bu na-da-nam la iš-tur-ši-im-ma ma-la li-ib-bi-ša la u-ša-am-zi-ši wa-ar-ka a-bu-um a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-al-ku eḳil-ša u kirâ-ša aḫ-ḫu-ša i-li-ḳu-ma ki-ma e-mu-uḳ zi-it-ti-ša ŠE.BA NI.BA u ŠIG.BA i-na-ad-di-nu-šim-ma li-ib-ba-ša u-ṭa-ab-bu šum-ma aḫ-ḫu-ša ki-ma e-mu-uḳ zi-it-ti-ša ŠE.BA NI.BA u ŠIG.BA la it-ta-ad-nu-ši-im-ma li-ib-ba-ša la uṭ-ṭi-ib-bu eḳil-ša u kirâ-ša a-na ir-ri-ši-im ša e-li-ša ṭa-bu i-na-ad-di-in-ma ir-ri-za it-ta-na-aš-ši-ši eḳlam kirâm u mi-im-ma ša a-bu-ša id-di-nu-ši-im a-di ba-al-ṭa-at i-kal a-na kaspim u-ul i-na-ad-di-in ša-ni-a-am u-ul u-up-pa-al ab-lu-za ša aḫ-ḫi-ša-ma

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 80)

Normalization

šumma ugbabtum nadītum u lu sekretum ša abuša šeriktam išrukušim ṭuppam išṭurušim ina ṭuppim ša išṭurušim warkassa ēma eliša ṭabu nadānam la išṭuršimma mala libbiša la ušamṣīši warka abum ana šīmtim ittalku eqelša u kirāša aḫḫūša ileqqûma kīma emūq zittiša ipram piššatam u lubūšam inaddinūšimma libbaša uṭabbū. šumma aḫḫūša kīma emūq zittiša ipram piššatam u lubūšam la ittadnūšimma libbaša la uṭṭibbū, eqelša u kirāša ana errēšim ša eliša ṭābu inaddinma errēssa ittanaššīši eqlam kirâm u mimma ša abuša iddinušim adi balṭat ikkal. ana kaspim ul inaddin. šaniam ul uppal. aplūssa ša aḫḫīšama.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 98)

Translation

If the father of a priestess or a temple-woman or a devotee has presented her with a dowry and written out a document for her but has not written on that document that she may dispose of her property in the way she thinks best or that he has empowered her to do what she likes, after he has passed to his destiny her brothers shall take the field or the orchard and make her comfortable by giving her food, oil and garments according to the size of her share. If her brothers have not made her comfortable by giving her food, oil and clothing according to the size of her share, she shall give her field or her orchard to a farmer she favours and he shall do the cultivation, and he shall support her. She shall enjoy the field, the orchard or anything else her father has given her as long as she lives. She shall not sell it for silver or become responsible to anyone else. Her inheritance belongs to her brothers.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 99)

GrammarSnifferSM

Akkadian Words in Law § 178

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

libbiša (Noun form) Masculine Singular of libbu "heart"

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 178 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/178. [Accessed 5 May. 2024]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 178 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/178

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 178 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified April 2, 2024. Accessed May 5, 2024. https://ehlaw.org/law/178.

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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