§ 1. If a man has accused another of laying a nÊrtu (death spell?) upon him, but has not proved it, he shall be put to death.
§ 2. If a man has accused another of laying a kiŠpu (spell) upon him, but has not proved it, the accused shall go to the sacred river, he shall plunge into the sacred river, and if the sacred river shall conquer him, he that accused him shall take possession of his house. If the sacred river shall show his innocence and he is saved, his accuser shall be put to death. He that plunged into the sacred river shall appropriate the house of him that accused him.
False witness in capital suit
§ 3. If a man has borne false witness in a trial, or has not established the statement that he has made, if that case be a capital trial, that man shall be put to death.
In civil case
§ 4. If he has borne false witness in a civil law case, he shall pay the damages in that suit.
Judgment once given not to be altered
§ 5. If a judge has given a verdict, rendered a decision, granted a written judgment, and afterward has altered his judgment, that judge shall be prosecuted for altering the judgment he gave and shall pay twelvefold the penalty laid down in that judgment. Further, he shall be publicly expelled from his judgment-seat and shall not return nor take his seat with the judges at a trial.
Burglary and acceptance of stolen goods
§ 6. If a man has stolen goods from a temple, or house, he shall be put to death; and he that has received the stolen property from him shall be put to death.
Dealings with irresponsible persons
§ 7. If a man has bought or received on deposit from a minor or a slave, either silver, gold, male or female slave, ox, ass, or sheep, or anything else, except by consent of elders, or power of attorney, he shall be put to death for theft.
Theft
§ 8. If a patrician has stolen ox, sheep, ass, pig, or ship, whether from a temple, or a house, he shall pay thirtyfold. If he be a [pg 045] plebeian, he shall return tenfold. If the thief cannot pay, he shall be put to death.
Procedure in case of the discovery of lost property
§ 9. If a man has lost property and some of it be detected in the possession of another, and the holder has said, “A man sold it to me, I bought it in the presence of witnesses”; and if the claimant has said, “I can bring witnesses who know it to be property lost by me”; then the alleged buyer on his part shall produce the man who sold it to him and the witnesses before whom he bought it; the claimant shall on his part produce the witnesses who know it to be his lost property. The judge shall examine their pleas. The witnesses to the sale and the witnesses who identify the lost property shall state on oath what they know. Such a seller is the thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost property shall recover his lost property. The buyer shall recoup himself from the seller's estate.
§ 10. If the alleged buyer on his part has not produced the seller or the witnesses before whom the sale took place, but the owner of the lost property on his part has produced the witnesses who identify it as his, then the [pretended] buyer is the thief; he shall be put to death. The owner of the lost property shall take his lost property.
§ 11. If, on the other hand, the claimant of the lost property has not brought the witnesses that know his lost property, he has been guilty of slander, he has stirred up strife, he shall be put to death.
§ 12. If the seller has in the meantime died, the buyer shall take from his estate fivefold the value sued for.
Judgment by default
§ 13. If a man has not his witnesses at hand, the judge shall set him a fixed time not exceeding six months, and if within six months he has not produced his witnesses, the man has lied; he shall bear the penalty of the suit.
Kidnapping
§ 14. If a man has stolen a child, he shall be put to death.
Abduction of slave
§ 15. If a man has induced either a male or female slave from the house of a patrician, or plebeian, to leave the city, he shall be put to death.
Harboring a fugitive slave
§ 16. If a man has harbored in his house a male or female slave from a patrician's or plebeian's house, and has not caused the fugitive to leave on the demand of the officer over the slaves condemned to public forced labor, that householder shall be put to death.
[pg 046]
The capture of a fugitive slave
§ 17. If a man has caught either a male or female runaway slave in the open field and has brought him back to his owner, the owner of the slave shall give him two shekels of silver.
§ 18. If such a slave will not name his owner, his captor shall bring him to the palace, where he shall be examined as to his past and returned to his owner.
§ 19. If the captor has secreted that slave in his house and afterward that slave has been caught in his possession, he shall be put to death.
§ 20. If the slave has fled from the hands of his captor, the latter shall swear to the owner of the slave and he shall be free from blame.
Burglary
§ 21. If a man has broken into a house he shall be killed before the breach and buried there.
Highway robbery
§ 22. If a man has committed highway robbery and has been caught, that man shall be put to death.
§ 23. If the highwayman has not been caught, the man that has been robbed shall state on oath what he has lost and the city or district governor in whose territory or district the robbery took place shall restore to him what he has lost.
§ 24. If a life [has been lost], the city or district governor shall pay one mina of silver to the deceased's relatives.
Theft at a fire
§ 25. If a fire has broken out in a man's house and one who has come to put it out has coveted the property of the householder and appropriated any of it, that man shall be cast into the self-same fire.
Duties and privileges of an officer over the levy
§ 26. If a levy-master, or warrant-officer, who has been detailed on the king's service, has not gone, or has hired a substitute in his place, that levy-master, or warrant-officer, shall be put to death and the hired substitute shall take his office.
§ 27. If a levy-master, or warrant-officer, has been assigned to garrison duty, and in his absence his field and garden have been given to another who has carried on his duty, when the absentee has returned and regained his city, his field and garden shall be given back to him and he shall resume his duty.
Rights and duties of his son
§ 28. If a levy-master, or warrant-officer, has been assigned to garrison duty, and has a son able to carry on his official duty, the field and garden shall be given to him and he shall carry on his father's duty.
§ 29. If the son be a child and is not able to carry on his father's duty, one-third of the field and garden shall be given to his mother to educate him.
[pg 047]
Penalty for neglect of his benefice
§ 30. If such an official has neglected the care of his field, garden, or house, and let them go to waste, and if another has taken his field, garden, or house, in his absence, and carried on the duty for three years, if the absentee has returned and would cultivate his field, garden, or house, it shall not be given him; he who has taken it and carried on the duty connected with it shall continue to do so.
§ 31. If for one year only he has let things go to waste and he has returned, his field, garden, and house shall be given him, and he himself shall carry on his duty.
His ransom, if captured
§ 32. If such an official has been assigned to the king's service (and captured by the enemy) and has been ransomed by a merchant and helped to regain his city, if he has had means in his house to pay his ransom, he himself shall do so. If he has not had means of his own, he shall be ransomed by the temple treasury. If there has not been means in the temple treasury of his city, the state will ransom him. His field, garden, or house shall not be given for his ransom.
Duties of district governors
§ 33. If either a governor or a prefect has appropriated to his own use the corvÉe, or has accepted and sent on the king's service a hired substitute in his place, that governor, or prefect, shall be put to death.
Governors not to oppress subordinates
§ 34. If either a governor, or a prefect, has appropriated the property of a levy-master, has hired him out, has robbed him by high-handedness at a trial, has taken the salary which the king gave to him, that governor, or prefect, shall be put to death.
The benefice of a levy-master, warrant-officer, or tributary inalienable
§ 35. If a man has bought from a levy-master the sheep, or oxen, which the king gave him, he shall lose his money.
§ 36. The field, garden, or house, of a levy-master, warrant-officer, or tributary shall not be sold.
§ 37. If a man has bought field, garden, or house, of a levy-master, a warrant-officer, or tributary, his title-deed shall be destroyed and he shall lose his money. He shall return the field, garden, or house to its owner.
Not to be bequeathed to his family
§ 38. A levy-master, warrant-officer, or tributary, shall not bequeath anything from the field, garden, or house of his benefice to his wife or daughter, nor shall he give it for his debt.
§ 39. From the field, garden, or house which he has bought and acquired, he shall make bequests to his wife, or daughter, or shall assign for his debt.
[pg 048]
The obligation resting upon a buyer of real estate
§ 40. A votary, merchant, or resident alien may sell his field, garden, or house, and the buyer shall discharge the public service connected with the field, garden, or house that he has bought.
A benefice not to be exchanged
§ 41. If a man has given property in exchange for the field, garden, or house, of a levy-master, warrant-officer, or tributary, such an official shall return to his field, garden, or house, and he shall appropriate the property given in exchange.
Responsibilities of land-tenants
§ 42. If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no corn to grow on the field, he shall be held responsible for not doing the work on the field and shall pay an average rent.
§ 43. If he has not cultivated the field and has left it alone, he shall give to the owner of the field an average rent, and the field which he has neglected he shall break up with mattocks and plough it, and shall return it to the owner of the field.
The rent of unbroken land
§ 44. If a man has taken a piece of virgin soil to open up, on a three years' lease, but has left it alone, has not opened up the land, in the fourth year he shall break it up, hoe it, and plough it, and shall return it to the owner of the field, and shall measure out ten GUR of corn for each GAN of land.
Loss of crop by storm apportioned between landlord and tenant
§ 45. If a man has let his field to a farmer and has received his rent for the field but afterward the field has been flooded by rain, or a storm has carried off the crop, the loss shall be the farmer's.
§ 46. If he has not received the rent of his field, whether he let it for a half, or for a third, of the crop, the farmer and the owner of the field shall share the corn that is left in the field, according to their agreement.
Landlord cannot restrain a satisfactory tenant from subletting
§ 47. If a tenant farmer, because he did not start farming in the early part of the year, has sublet the field, the owner of the field shall not object; his field has been cultivated; at harvest-time he shall take rent, according to his agreement.
Abatement of debt on account of storm, flood, or drought
§ 48. If a man has incurred a debt and a storm has flooded his field or carried away the crop, or the corn has not grown because of drought, in that year he shall not pay his creditor. Further, he shall post-date his bond and shall not pay interest for that year.
Rights in a crop pledged for debt
§ 49. If a man has received money from a merchant and has given to the merchant a field, planted with corn, or sesame, and has said to him, “Cultivate the field and reap and take the corn, or sesame, that shall be grown”; if the bailiff has reared corn, or sesame, in the field, at harvest-time the owner of the field shall take what corn, or [pg 049] sesame, has been grown in the field and shall pay corn to the merchant for his money that he took of him and its interest, and for the maintenance of the bailiff.
§ 50. If the field he gave was [already] cultivated, or the sesame was grown up, the owner of the field shall take the corn, or sesame, that has been grown in the field, and shall return the money and its interest to the merchant.
§ 51. If he has not money enough, he shall give to the merchant sesame, or corn, according to its market price, for the money which he took from the merchant and its interest, according to the king's standard.
§ 52. If the bailiff has not reared corn or sesame in the field the debtor's obligation shall not be lessened.
Riparian responsibilities
§§ 53, 54. If a man has neglected to strengthen his dike and has not kept his dike strong, and a breach has broken out in his dike, and the waters have flooded the meadow, the man in whose dike the breach has broken out shall restore the corn he has caused to be lost. [54]. If he be not able to restore the corn, he and his goods shall be sold, and the owners of the meadow whose corn the water has carried away shall share the money.
Penalty for neglect to shut off water
§ 55. If a man has opened his runnel for watering and has left it open, and the water has flooded his neighbor's field, he shall pay him an average crop.
§ 56. If a man has let out the waters and they flood the young plants in his neighbor's field, he shall measure out ten GUR of corn for each GAN of land.
Damage done to growing crop by sheep
§ 57. If a shepherd has not agreed with the owner of the field to allow his sheep to eat off the green crop and without consent of the owner has let his sheep feed off it, the owner of the field shall harvest his crop, but the shepherd who without consent of the owner of the field caused his sheep to eat it shall give to the owner of the field, over and above his crop, twenty GUR of corn for each GAN of land.
§ 58. If, after the sheep have come up out of the meadows and have passed into the common fold at the city gate, a shepherd has placed his sheep in a field and caused his sheep to feed in the field, the shepherd shall keep the field he has grazed, and, at harvest-time, he shall measure out to the owner sixty GUR of corn for each GAN of land.
[pg 050]
Cutting down a tree without permission
§ 59. If a man without the consent of the owner has cut down a tree in an orchard, he shall weigh out half a mina of silver.
Rent of a garden-plot
§§ 60, 61. If a man has given a field to a gardener to plant a garden and the gardener has planted the garden, he shall train the garden four years; in the fifth year the owner of the garden and the gardener shall share the garden equally, the owner of the garden shall gather his share and take it. [61]. If the gardener, in planting the garden, has not planted all, but has left a bare patch, he shall reckon the bare patch in his share.
§ 62. If he has not planted the field which was given him as a garden; then, if it was arable land, the gardener shall measure out to the owner of the field an average rent for the years that were neglected, and shall perform the stipulated work on the field (i.e., make it into a garden), and return it to the owner of the field.
§ 63. If the land was uncultivated, he shall do the stipulated work on the field, and return to the owner of the field and shall measure out for each year ten GUR of corn for each GAN.
Garden rented on shares
§ 64. If a man has given his garden to a gardener to farm, the gardener, as long as he holds the garden, shall give the owner of the garden two-thirds of the produce of the garden and shall take one-third himself.
§ 65. If the gardener has not tilled the garden and has diminished the yield, the gardener shall pay an average rent.
Here came the five erased columns, of which the three following sections are restored from copies in AshurbÂnipal's library:
Obligations of owner to gather a date-crop assigned for debt
§ X. [If a man has borrowed money of a merchant and has given a date grove] to the merchant and has said to him, “Take the dates that are in my grove for your money”; that merchant shall not consent, the owner of the grove shall take the dates that are in the grove and shall answer to the merchant for the money and its interest, according to the tenor of his agreement, and the owner of the grove shall take the surplus of the dates that are in the grove.
Eviction of house-tenant
§ Y. [If a man has let a house] and the tenant has paid to the owner of the house the full rent for a term of years, and if the owner of the house has ordered the tenant to leave before his time [pg 051] is up, the owner of the house, because he has ordered his tenant to leave before his time is up, [shall repay a proportionate amount] from what the tenant has paid him.
Acceptance of goods in payment of debt, in default of money or corn
§ Z. [If a man has borrowed money of a merchant] and has not corn or money wherewith [to pay], but has goods; whatever is in his hands, he shall give to the merchant, before the elders. The merchant shall not object; he shall receive it.
After the loss of about thirty-five sections the Code resumes:
Responsibility of a travelling salesman
§ 100. [If an agent has received money of a merchant, he shall write down the amount] and [what is to be] the interest of the money, and when his time is up, he shall settle with his merchant.
§ 101. If he has not had success on his travels, he shall return double what he received to the merchant.
Robbery, substantiated by oath, a valid excuse
§§ 102, 103. If the merchant has given money, as a speculation, to the agent, who during his travels has met with misfortune, he shall return the full sum to the merchant. [103]. If, on his travels, an enemy has forced him to give up some of the goods he was carrying, the agent shall specify the amount on oath and shall be acquitted.
Responsibility to be indicated by legal receipts
§ 104. If a merchant has given to an agent corn, wool, oil, or any sort of goods, to traffic with, the agent shall write down the money value, and shall return that to the merchant. The agent shall then take a sealed receipt for the money that he has given to the merchant.
§ 105. If the agent forgets and has not taken a sealed receipt for the money he gave to the merchant, money that has not been acknowledged by receipt shall not be put down in the accounts.
Punishment of fraud of an agent
§ 106. If an agent has taken money of a merchant, and his principal suspects him, that principal shall prosecute his agent, put him on oath before the elders, as to the money taken; the agent shall pay to the merchant threefold what he misappropriated.
Fraud practiced by principal
§ 107. If the principal has overcharged the agent and the agent has [really] returned to his principal whatever his principal gave him, and if the principal has disputed what the agent has given him, that agent shall put his principal on oath before the elders, and the merchant, because he has defrauded the agent, shall pay to the agent sixfold what he misappropriated.
[pg 052]
Fraud in ordinary drink-traffic
§ 108. If the mistress of a beer-shop has not received corn as the price of beer or has demanded silver on an excessive scale, and has made the measure of beer less than the measure of corn, that beer-seller shall be prosecuted and drowned.
Connivance at unlawful assemblages
§ 109. If the mistress of a beer-shop has assembled seditious slanderers in her house and those seditious persons have not been captured and have not been haled to the palace, that beer-seller shall be put to death.
Drink-traffic forbidden to votaries
§ 110. If a votary, who is not living in the convent, open a beer-shop, or enter a beer-shop for drink, that woman shall be put to death.
Rate of payment with produce
§ 111. If the mistress of a beer-shop has given sixty ?A of sakani beer in the time of thirst, at harvest, she shall take fifty ?A of corn.
Carrier's liability for misappropriation of goods
§ 112. If a man staying abroad has given silver, gold, precious stones, or portable goods to another man to transport, and if that man has not delivered the consignment, where he has carried it, but has appropriated it, the owner of the consignment shall prosecute him, and the carrier shall give to the owner of the consignment fivefold whatever was intrusted to him.
Unauthorized seizure of goods denied a creditor
§ 113. If a man has a debt of corn, or money, due from another and without the consent of the owner of the corn has taken corn from the granary, or barn, the owner of the corn shall prosecute him for taking the corn from the granary, or barn, without his consent, and the man shall return all the corn he took, and further lose whatever it was that he had lent.
Punishment of vexatious distraint
§ 114. If a man has no debt of corn or money due from a man on whom he has levied a distraint, for each such distraint he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
Creditor responsible for fair treatment of a man held as security for debt
§ 115. If a man has corn or money due from another man and has levied a distraint and the hostage has died a natural death in the house of the creditor, he cannot be held responsible.
§ 116. If the hostage has died of blows or want in the house of the creditor, the owner of the hostage shall prosecute his creditor, and if the deceased were free born, the creditor's son shall be put to death; if a slave, the creditor shall pay one-third of a mina of silver, Further, he shall lose whatever it was that he lent.
Limitations on the holding of such hostages
§ 117. If a man owes a debt, and he has given his wife, his son, or his daughter [as hostage] for the money, or has handed someone over to work it off, the hostage shall do the work of the creditor's house; but in the fourth year he shall set them free.
[pg 053]
§ 118. If a debtor has handed over a male or female slave to work off a debt, and the creditor proceeds to sell same, no one can complain.
§ 119. If a man owes a debt, and he has assigned a maid who has borne him children for the money, the owner of the maid shall repay the money which the merchant gave him and shall ransom his maid.
Responsibility of owners of warehouses
§ 120. If a man has deposited his corn for safe keeping in another's house and it has suffered damage in the granary, or if the owner of the house has opened the store and taken the corn, or has disputed the amount of the corn that was stored in his house, the owner of the corn shall declare on oath the amount of his corn, and the owner of the house shall return him double.
Rate of payment for storage of corn
§ 121. If a man has stored corn in another man's house he shall give, on each GUR of corn, five ?A of corn, yearly, as the rent for storage.
§ 122. If a man has given another gold, silver, or any goods whatever, on deposit, all that he gives shall he show to witnesses, and take a bond and so give on deposit.
§ 123. If he has given on deposit without witnesses and bonds, and has been defrauded where he made his deposit, he has no claim to prosecute.
Responsibility of bankers
§ 124. If a man has given on deposit to another, before witnesses, gold, silver, or any goods whatever, and his claim has been contested, he shall prosecute that man, and [the man] shall return double what he disputed.
Their own losses no excuse
§ 125. If a man has given anything whatever on deposit, and, where he has made his deposit, something of his has been lost together with something belonging to the owner of the house, either by house-breaking or a rebellion, the owner of the house who is in default shall make good all that has been given him on deposit, which he has lost, and shall return it to the owner of the goods. The owner of the house shall look after what he has lost and recover it from the thief.
Depreciation of property
§ 126. If a man has said that something of his is lost, which is not lost, or has alleged a depreciation, though nothing of his is lost, he shall estimate the depreciation on oath, and he shall pay double whatever he has claimed.
Slander of votary or married woman
§ 127. If a man has caused the finger to be pointed at a votary, or a man's wife, and has not justified himself, that man shall be brought before the judges, and have his forehead branded.
[pg 054]
Marriage-bonds
§ 128. If a man has taken a wife and has not executed a marriage-contract, that woman is not a wife.
Punishment of flagrant adultery
§ 129. If a man's wife be caught lying with another, they shall be strangled and cast into the water. If the wife's husband would save his wife, the king can save his servant.
Rape of a betrothed virgin
§ 130. If a man has ravished another's betrothed wife, who is a virgin, while still living in her father's house, and has been caught in the act, that man shall be put to death; the woman shall go free.
Suspicion of adultery cleared by oath
§ 131. If a man's wife has been accused by her husband, and has not been caught lying with another, she shall swear her innocence, and return to her house.
Ordeal of water permissible to accused wife
§ 132. If a man's wife has the finger pointed at her on account of another, but has not been caught lying with him, for her husband's sake she shall plunge into the sacred river.
Rights and duties of the wives of those who have been taken captive in war
§ 133. If a man has been taken captive, and there was maintenance in his house, but his wife has left her house and entered into another man's house; because that woman has not preserved her body, and has entered into the house of another, that woman shall be prosecuted and shall be drowned.
§ 134. If a man has been taken captive, but there was not maintenance in his house, and his wife has entered into the house of another, that woman has no blame.
§ 135. If a man has been taken captive, but there was no maintenance in his house for his wife, and she has entered into the house of another, and has borne him children, if in the future her [first] husband shall return and regain his city, that woman shall return to her first husband, but the children shall follow their own father.
Right of a deserted wife to remarry
§ 136. If a man has left his city and fled, and, after he has gone, his wife has entered into the house of another; if the man return and seize his wife, the wife of the fugitive shall not return to her husband, because he hated his city and fled.
Rights of a divorced woman who has borne children
§ 137. If a man has determined to divorce a concubine who has borne him children, or a votary who has granted him children, he shall return to that woman her marriage-portion, and shall give her the usufruct of field, garden, and goods, to bring up her children. After her children have grown up, out of whatever is given to her children, they shall give her one son's share, and the husband of her choice shall marry her.
[pg 055]
Rights of a divorced woman who is childless
§ 138. If a man has divorced his wife, who has not borne him children, he shall pay over to her as much money as was given for her bride-price and the marriage-portion which she brought from her father's house, and so shall divorce her.
§ 139. If there was no bride-price, he shall give her one mina of silver, as a price of divorce.
§ 140. If he be a plebeian, he shall give her one-third of a mina of silver.
Status of a worthless wife
§ 141. If a man's wife, living in her husband's house, has persisted in going out, has acted the fool, has wasted her house, has belittled her husband, he shall prosecute her. If her husband has said, “I divorce her,” she shall go her way; he shall give her nothing as her price of divorce. If her husband has said, “I will not divorce her,” he may take another woman to wife; the wife shall live as a slave in her husband's house.
Status of a wife who repudiates her husband
§ 142. If a woman has hated her husband and has said, “You shall not possess me,” her past shall be inquired into, as to what she lacks. If she has been discreet, and has no vice, and her husband has gone out, and has greatly belittled her, that woman has no blame, she shall take her marriage-portion and go off to her father's house.
§ 143. If she has not been discreet, has gone out, ruined her house, belittled her husband, she shall be drowned.
Marriage with a votary
§ 144. If a man has married a votary, and that votary has given a maid to her husband, and so caused him to have children, and, if that man is inclined to marry a concubine, that man shall not be allowed to do so, he shall not marry a concubine.
§ 145. If a man has married a votary, and she has not granted him children, and he is determined to marry a concubine, that man shall marry the concubine, and bring her into his house, but the concubine shall not place herself on an equality with the votary.
A votary's rights against a maid assigned to her husband
§ 146. If a man has married a votary, and she has given a maid to her husband, and the maid has borne children, and if afterward that maid has placed herself on an equality with her mistress, because she has borne children, her mistress shall not sell her, she shall place a slave-mark upon her, and reckon her with the slave-girls.
§ 147. If she has not borne children, her mistress shall sell her.
[pg 056]
Status of a wife afflicted with a disease
§ 148. If a man has married a wife and a disease has seized her, if he is determined to marry a second wife, he shall marry her. He shall not divorce the wife whom the disease has seized. In the home they made together she shall dwell, and he shall maintain her as long as she lives.
§ 149. If that woman was not pleased to stay in her husband's house, he shall pay over to her the marriage-portion which she brought from her father's house, and she shall go away.
Wife's right to property deeded to her by her husband
§ 150. If a man has presented field, garden, house, or goods to his wife, has granted her a deed of gift, her children, after her husband's death, shall not dispute her right; the mother shall leave it after her death to that one of her children whom she loves best. She shall not leave it to her kindred.
Marital responsibility for ante-nuptial debts
§ 151. If a woman, who is living in a man's house, has persuaded her husband to bind himself, and grant her a deed to the effect that she shall not be held for debt by a creditor of her husband's; if that man had a debt upon him before he married that woman, his creditor shall not take his wife for it. Also, if that woman had a debt upon her before she entered that man's house, her creditor shall not take her husband for it.
§ 152. From the time that that woman entered into the man's house they together shall be liable for all debts subsequently incurred.
Connivance at husband's murder by a wife
§ 153. If a man's wife, for the sake of another, has caused her husband to be killed, that woman shall be impaled.
Incest with own daughter
§ 154. If a man has committed incest with his daughter, that man shall be banished from the city.
Incest with daughter-in-law
§ 155. If a man has betrothed a maiden to his son and his son has known her, and afterward the man has lain in her bosom, and been caught, that man shall be strangled and she shall be cast into the water.
§ 156. If a man has betrothed a maiden to his son, and his son has not known her, and that man has lain in her bosom, he shall pay her half a mina of silver, and shall pay over to her whatever she brought from her father's house, and the husband of her choice shall marry her.
Incest with mother
§ 157. If a man, after his father's death, has lain in the bosom of his mother, they shall both of them be burnt together.
Incest with step-mother
§ 158. If a man, after his father's death, be caught in the bosom of his step-mother, who has borne children, that man shall be cut off from his father's house.
[pg 057]
Penalty for breach of promise
§ 159. If a man, who has presented a gift to the house of his prospective father-in-law and has given the bride-price, has afterward looked upon another woman and has said to his father-in-law, “I will not marry your daughter”; the father of the girl shall keep whatever he has brought as a present.
Rights of a rejected suitor
§ 160. If a man has presented a gift to the house of his prospective father-in-law, and has given the bride-price, but the father of the girl has said, “I will not give you my daughter,” the father shall return double all that was presented him.
Slandering rival not to profit by his calumny
§ 161. If a man has brought a gift to the house of his prospective father-in-law, and has given the bride-price, but his comrade has slandered him and his father-in-law has said to the suitor, “You shall not marry my daughter,” [the father] shall return double all that was presented him. Further, the comrade shall not marry the girl.
Disposal of a wife's marriage-portion
§ 162. If a man has married a wife, and she has borne him children, and that woman has gone to her fate, her father shall lay no claim to her marriage-portion. Her marriage-portion is her children's only.
§ 163. If a man has married a wife, and she has not borne him children, and that woman has gone to her fate; if his father-in-law has returned to him the bride-price, which that man brought into the house of his father-in-law, her husband shall have no claim on the marriage-portion of that woman. Her marriage-portion indeed belongs to her father's house.
§ 164. If the father-in-law has not returned the bride-price, the husband shall deduct the amount of her bride-price from her marriage-portion, and shall return her marriage-portion to her father's house.
Effect upon the inheritance of a father's gift to a favorite son
§ 165. If a man has presented field, garden, or house to his son, the first in his eyes, and has written him a deed of gift; after the father has gone to his fate, when the brothers share, he shall keep the present his father gave him, and over and above shall share equally with them in the goods of his father's estate.
Reservation of a bride-price for a young unmarried brother
§ 166. If a man has taken wives for the other sons he had, but has not taken a wife for his young son, after the father has gone to his fate, when the brothers share, they shall set aside from the goods of their father's estate money, as a bride-price, for their young brother, who has not married a wife, over and above his share, and they shall cause him to take a wife.
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Inheritance of children in case of two fruitful marriages
§ 167. If a man has taken a wife, and she has borne him children and that woman has gone to her fate, and he has taken a second wife, and she also has borne children; after the father has gone to his fate, the sons shall not share according to mothers, but each family shall take the marriage-portion of its mother, and all shall share the goods of their father's estate equally.
Disinheritance of a son
§ 168. If a man has determined to disinherit his son and has declared before the judge, “I cut off my son,” the judge shall inquire into the son's past, and, if the son has not committed a grave misdemeanor such as should cut him off from sonship, the father shall disinherit his son.
§ 169. If he has committed a grave crime against his father, which cuts off from sonship, for the first offence he shall pardon him. If he has committed a grave crime a second time, the father shall cut off his son from sonship.
Status of children by a slave-woman
§ 170. If a man has had children borne to him by his wife, and also by a maid, if the father in his lifetime has said, “My sons,” to the children whom his maid bore him, and has reckoned them with the sons of his wife; then after the father has gone to his fate, the children of the wife and of the maid shall share equally. The children of the wife shall apportion the shares and make their own selections.
§ 171. And if the father, in his lifetime, has not said, “My sons,” to the children whom the maid bore him, after the father has gone to his fate, the children of the maid shall not share with the children of the wife in the goods of their father's house. The maid and her children, however, shall obtain their freedom. The children of the wife have no claim for service on the children of the maid.
The rights of a widow in personal property
The wife shall take her marriage-portion, and any gift that her husband has given her and for which he has written a deed of gift and she shall dwell in her husband's house; as long as she lives, she shall enjoy it, she shall not sell it. After her death it is indeed her children's.
§ 172. If her husband has not given her a gift, her marriage-portion shall be given her in full, and, from the goods of her husband's estate, she shall take a share equal to that of one son.
Her rights in the home
If her children have persecuted her in order to have her leave the house, and the judge has inquired into her past, and laid the blame on the children, that woman shall not leave her husband's house. If [pg 059] that woman has determined to leave, she shall relinquish to her children the gift her husband gave her, she shall take the marriage-portion of her father's estate, and the husband of her choice may marry her.
Dower rights of her children by second marriage
§ 173. If that woman, where she has gone, has borne children to her later husband, after that woman has died, the children of both marriages shall share her marriage-portion.
§ 174. If she has not borne children to her later husband, the children of her first husband shall take her marriage-portion.
Property rights of the children of slave-father and free mother
§ 175. If either a slave of a patrician, or of a plebeian, has married the daughter of a free man, and she has borne children, the owner of the slave shall have no claim for service on the children of a free woman. And if a slave, either of a patrician or of a plebeian, has married a free woman and when he married her she entered the slave's house with a marriage-portion from her father's estate, be he slave of a patrician or of a plebeian, and from the time that they started to keep house, they have acquired property; after the slave, whether of a patrician or of a plebeian, has gone to his fate, the free woman shall take her marriage-portion, and whatever her husband and she acquired, since they started house-keeping. She shall divide it into two portions. The master of the slave shall take one half, the other half the free woman shall take for her children.
§ 176. If the free woman had no marriage-portion, whatever her husband and she acquired since they started house-keeping he shall divide into two portions. The owner of the slave shall take one half, the other half the free woman shall take for her children.
Property rights of the young children of a widow who remarries
§ 177. If a widow, whose children are young, has determined to marry again, she shall not marry without consent of the judge. When she is allowed to remarry, the judge shall inquire as to what remains of the property of her former husband, and shall intrust the property of her former husband to that woman and her second husband. He shall give them an inventory. They shall watch over the property, and bring up the children. Not a utensil shall they sell. A buyer of any utensil belonging to the widow's children shall lose his money and shall return the article to its owners.
The property rights of a votary
§ 178. If a female votary, or vowed woman, has had given her by her father a portion, as for marriage, and he has written her a deed, and in the deed which he has written her he has not written that she may leave it as she pleases, and has not granted her all her [pg 060] desire; after her father has gone to his fate, her brothers shall take her field, or garden, and, according to the value of her share, shall give her corn, oil, and wool, and shall content her heart. If they do not give her corn, oil, and wool, according to the value of her share, and do not satisfy her, she shall let her field and garden to a farmer, whom she chooses, and the farmer shall support her. The field, garden, or whatever her father gave her, she shall enjoy, as long as she lives. She shall not sell it, nor mortgage it. The reversion of her inheritance indeed belongs to her brothers.
Her right to convey property
§ 179. If a female votary, or vowed woman, has had a portion given her by her father, and he has written her a deed, and in the deed that he has written her has [declared] that she may give it as she pleases, and has granted her all her desire; after her father has gone to his fate, she shall leave it as she pleases; her brothers shall make no claim against her.
Her right of inheritance
§ 180. If the father has not given a portion to his daughter, who is a female votary, or vowed woman; after her father has gone to his fate, she shall share in the property of her father's house, like any other child. As long as she lives, she shall enjoy her share; after her, it indeed belongs to her brothers.
Her proportion of her father's property
§ 181. If a father has vowed his daughter to a god, as a temple maid, or a virgin, and has given her no portion; after the father has gone to his fate, she shall share in the property of her father's estate, taking one-third of a child's share. She shall enjoy her share, as long as she lives. After her, it belongs to her brothers.
Additional privileges of votary of Marduk of Babylon
§ 182. If a father has not given a portion, as for marriage, to his daughter, a votary of Marduk of Babylon, and has not written her a deed; after her father has gone to his fate, she shall share with her brothers from the goods of her father's estate, taking one-third of a child's share. She shall not be subject to duty. The votary of Marduk shall leave it after her to whom she pleases.
Rights of a daughter by a concubine, if provided for by father on marriage
§ 183. If a father has given a portion, as for marriage, to his daughter by a concubine, and has given her to a husband, and has written her a deed; after her father has gone to his fate, she shall not share in the goods of her father's house.
If not so provided for by father
§ 184. If a man has not given a portion, as for marriage, to his daughter by a concubine, and has not given her to a husband; after her father has gone to his fate, her brothers shall present her with a [pg 061] marriage-portion, according to the wealth of her father's estate, and shall give her to a husband.
Adoption of natural son
§ 185. If a man has taken a young child, a natural son of his, to be his son, and has brought him up, no one shall make a claim against that foster child.
Adoption of child of living parents
§ 186. If a man has taken a young child to be his son, and after he has taken him, the child discover his own parents, he shall return to his father's house.
§ 187. The son of a royal favorite, of one that stands in the palace, or the son of a votary shall not be reclaimed.
Responsibilities of a craftsman to his adopted child
§§ 188, 189. If a craftsman has taken a child to bring up and has taught him his handicraft, he shall not be reclaimed. If he has not taught him his handicraft that foster child shall return to his father's house.
Rights of inheritance of an adopted son
§ 190. If a man has brought up the child, whom he has taken to be his son, but has not reckoned him with his sons, that foster child shall return to his father's house.
Obligations on discarding an adopted son
§ 191. If a man has brought up the child, whom he took to be his son, and then sets up a home, and after he has acquired children, decides to disinherit the foster child, that son shall not go his way [penniless]; the father that brought him up shall give him one-third of a son's share in his goods and he shall depart. He shall not give him field, garden, or house.
Punishment for the repudiation of adoptive parents
§ 192. If the son of a palace favorite or the son of a vowed woman has said to the father that brought him up, “You are not my father,” or to the mother that brought him up, “You are not my mother,” his tongue shall be cut out.
§ 193. If the son of a palace favorite or the son of a vowed woman has come to know his father's house and has hated his father that brought him up, or his mother that brought him up, and shall go off to his father's house, his eyes shall be torn out.
Penalty of substituting one infant for another
§ 194. If a man has given his son to a wet-nurse to suckle, and that son has died in the hands of the nurse, and the nurse, without consent of the child's father or mother, has nursed another child, they shall prosecute her; because she has nursed another child, without consent of the father or mother, her breasts shall be cut off.
Assault on a father
§ 195. If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off.
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Graded penalties for assault and battery
§ 196. If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be knocked out.
§ 197. If he has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken.
§ 198. If he has knocked out the eye of a plebeian or has broken the limb of a plebeian, he shall pay one mina of silver.
§ 199. If he has knocked out the eye of a patrician's servant, or broken the limb of a patrician's servant, he shall pay half his value.
§ 200. If a patrician has knocked out the tooth of a man that is his equal, his tooth shall be knocked out.
§ 201. If he has knocked out the tooth of a plebeian, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
Brutal assault
§ 202. If a man has smitten the privates of a man, higher in rank than he, he shall be scourged with sixty blows of an ox-hide scourge, in the assembly.
§ 203. If a man has smitten the privates of a patrician of his own rank, he shall pay one mina of silver.
§ 204. If a plebeian has smitten the privates of a plebeian, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.
§ 205. If the slave of anyone has smitten the privates of a free-born man, his ear shall be cut off.
Fatal assault
§ 206. If a man has struck another in a quarrel, and caused him a permanent injury, that man shall swear, “I struck him without malice,” and shall pay the doctor.
§ 207. If he has died of his blows, [the man] shall swear [similarly], and pay one-half a mina of silver; or,
§ 208. If [the deceased] was a plebeian, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
Assaults upon pregnant women
§ 209. If a man has struck a free woman with child, and has caused her to miscarry, he shall pay ten shekels for her miscarriage.
§ 210. If that woman die, his daughter shall be killed.
§ 211. If it be the daughter of a plebeian, that has miscarried through his blows, he shall pay five shekels of silver.
§ 212. If that woman die, he shall pay half a mina of silver.
§ 213. If he has struck a man's maid and caused her to miscarry, he shall pay two shekels of silver.
§ 214. If that woman die, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
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§ 215. If a surgeon has operated with the bronze lancet on a patrician for a serious injury, and has cured him, or has removed with a bronze lancet a cataract for a patrician, and has cured his eye, he shall take ten shekels of silver.
§ 216. If it be plebeian, he shall take five shekels of silver.
§ 217. If it be a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the surgeon.
Penalties for unskilful operations
§ 218. If a surgeon has operated with the bronze lancet on a patrician for a serious injury, and has caused his death, or has removed a cataract for a patrician, with the bronze lancet, and has made him lose his eye, his hands shall be cut off.
§ 219. If the surgeon has treated a serious injury of a plebeian's slave, with the bronze lancet, and has caused his death, he shall render slave for slave.
§ 220. If he has removed a cataract with the bronze lancet, and made the slave lose his eye, he shall pay half his value.
Cure of limb or bowel
§ 221. If a surgeon has cured the limb of a patrician, or has doctored a diseased bowel, the patient shall pay five shekels of silver to the surgeon.
§ 222. If he be a plebeian, he shall pay three shekels of silver.
§ 223. If he be a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the doctor.
Fees for the treatment of the diseases of animals
§ 224. If a veterinary surgeon has treated an ox, or an ass, for a severe injury, and cured it, the owner of the ox, or the ass, shall pay the surgeon one-sixth of a shekel of silver, as his fee.
§ 225. If he has treated an ox, or an ass, for a severe injury, and caused it to die, he shall pay one-quarter of its value to the owner of the ox, or the ass.
Brander's liabilities
§ 226. If a brander has cut out a mark on a slave, without the consent of his owner, that brander shall have his hands cut off.
§ 227. If someone has deceived the brander, and induced him to cut out a mark on a slave, that man shall be put to death and buried in his house; the brander shall swear, “I did not mark him knowingly,” and shall go free.
Builder's fee and liabilities for bad workmanship
§ 228. If a builder has built a house for a man, and finished it, he shall pay him a fee of two shekels of silver, for each SAR built on.
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§ 229. If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not made his work sound, and the house he built has fallen, and caused the death of its owner, that builder shall be put to death.
§ 230. If it is the owner's son that is killed, the builder's son shall be put to death.
§ 231. If it is the slave of the owner that is killed, the builder shall give slave for slave to the owner of the house.
§ 232. If he has caused the loss of goods, he shall render back whatever he has destroyed. Moreover, because he did not make sound the house he built, and it fell, at his own cost he shall rebuild the house that fell.
§ 233. If a builder has built a house for a man, and has not keyed his work, and the wall has fallen, that builder shall make that wall firm at his own expense.
Boatmen's fees and liabilities
§ 234. If a boatman has built a boat of sixty GUR for a man, he shall pay him a fee of two shekels of silver.
§ 235. If a boatman has built a boat for a man, and has not made his work sound, and in that same year that boat is sent on a voyage and suffers damage, the boatman shall rebuild that boat, and, at his own expense, shall make it strong, or shall give a strong boat to the owner.
Hire of boats
§ 236. If a man has let his boat to a boatman, and the boatman has been careless and the boat has been sunk or lost, the boatman shall restore a boat to the owner.
Responsibility of boatmen carrying goods
§ 237. If a man has hired a boat and boatman, and loaded it with corn, wool, oil, or dates, or whatever it be, and the boatman has been careless, and sunk the boat, or lost what is in it, the boatman shall restore the boat which he sank, and whatever he lost that was in it.
§ 238. If a boatman has sunk a man's boat, and has floated it again, he shall pay half its value in silver.
§ 239. If a man has hired a boatman, he shall pay him six GUR of corn yearly.
Law of collision
§ 240. If a boat, on its course, has run into a boat at anchor, and sunk it, the owner of the boat that was sunk shall estimate on oath whatever was lost in his boat, and the owner of the moving vessel, which sank the boat at anchor, shall make good his boat and what was lost in it.
Working ox not to be distrained
§ 241. If a man has levied a distraint on a working ox, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
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Hire of oxen and cows
§ 242. If a man has hired a working ox for one year, its hire is four GUR of corn.
§ 243. As the hire of a milch cow one shall give three GUR of corn to its owner.
Liability for loss of ox or ass by accident
§ 244. If a man has hired an ox, or an ass, and a lion has killed it in the open field, the loss falls on its owner.
Compensation for loss of ox by ill-treatment
§ 245. If a man has hired an ox and has caused its death, by carelessness, or blows, he shall restore ox for ox, to the owner of the ox.
§ 246. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its leg, or cut its neck (?), he shall restore ox for ox, to the owner of the ox.
§ 247. If a man has hired an ox, and knocked out its eye, he shall pay to the owner of the ox half its value.
Responsibility for unavoidable accidents to a hired ox
§ 248. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its horn, cut off its tail, or torn its muzzle, he shall pay one-quarter of its value.
§ 249. If a man has hired an ox, and God has struck it, and it has died, the man that hired the ox shall make affidavit and go free.
Death by goring, accidental
§ 250. If a bull has gone wild and gored a man, and caused his death, there can be no suit against the owner.
Responsibility for a vicious ox
§ 251. If a man's ox be a gorer, and has revealed its evil propensity as a gorer, and he has not blunted its horn, or shut up the ox, and then that ox has gored a free man, and caused his death, the owner shall pay half a mina of silver.
§ 252. If it be a slave that has been killed, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
Responsibility of a tenant farmer
§ 253. If a man has set another over his field, hired him, allotted him tools, and intrusted him with oxen for cultivating the field and provided harnesses for them, and if that man has appropriated the seed or provender, and they have been found in his possession, his hands shall be cut off.
§ 254. If he has taken the provender or rations and has enfeebled the oxen, he shall make it good from the corn he has hoed.
§ 255. If he has let out the man's oxen for hire, or stolen the seed-corn, or has not produced a crop, that man shall be prosecuted, and he shall pay sixty GUR of corn for each GAN.
§ 256. If he is not able to pay his compensation, he shall be torn in pieces on that field by the oxen.
Wages of laborers
§ 257. If a man has hired a field-laborer, he shall pay him eight GUR of corn yearly.
§ 258. If anyone has hired an ox-herd he shall pay him six GUR of corn yearly.
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Theft of agricultural instruments
§ 259. If a man has stolen a watering-machine from the meadow, he shall pay five shekels of silver to the owner of the watering-machine.
§ 260. If a man has stolen a shadduf, or a plough, he shall pay three shekels of silver.
Wages of herdsmen
§ 261. If a man has hired a herdsman, to pasture oxen, or sheep, he shall pay him eight GUR of corn yearly.
Their liability
§ 262. If a man has intrusted ox or ass to ... [Passage mutilated.]
§ 263. If he has lost the ox, or ass, given to him, he shall restore ox for ox, and ass for ass to its owner.
§ 264. If a herdsman, who has had oxen or sheep given to him to pasture, has received his wages for the business, and been satisfied, then diminish the herd or lessen the offspring, he shall give increase and produce according to the nature of his agreements.
§ 265. If a herdsman, to whom oxen or sheep have been given, has defaulted, has altered the price, or sold them, he shall be prosecuted, and shall restore oxen, or sheep, tenfold, to their owner.
§ 266. If lightning has struck a fold, or a lion has made a slaughter, the herdsman shall purge himself by oath, and the owner of the fold shall bear the loss of the fold.
§ 267. If the herdsman has been careless, and a loss has occurred in the fold, the herdsman shall make good the loss in the fold; he shall repay the oxen, or sheep, to their owner.
Hire of animals for threshing
§ 268. If a man has hired an ox, for threshing, its hire is twenty ?A of corn.
§ 269. If he has hired an ass, for threshing, its hire is ten ?A of corn.
§ 270. If he has hired a young animal, for threshing, its hire is one ?A of corn.
Hire of wagon, oxen, and driver
§ 271. If a man has hired oxen, a wagon, and its driver, he shall pay one hundred and sixty ?A of corn daily.
§ 272. If a man has hired the wagon alone, he shall pay forty ?A of corn daily.
Graded wages of day-laborers
§ 273. If a man has hired a laborer from the beginning of the year to the fifth month, he shall pay six ŠE of silver daily; from the sixth month to the close of the year, he shall pay five ŠE of silver daily.
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Wages of artisans
§ 274. If a man has hired an artisan, he shall pay as his daily wages, to a ... five ŠE of silver, to a potter five ŠE of silver, to a tailor five ŠE of silver, to a stone-cutter ... ŠE of silver, to a ... ŠE of silver, to a ... ŠE of silver, to a carpenter four ŠE of silver, to a rope-maker four ŠE of silver, to a ... ŠE of silver, to a builder ... ŠE of silver.
Hires of various boats
§ 275. If a man has hired a boat, its hire is three ŠE of silver daily.
§ 276. If he has hired a fast boat he shall pay two and a half ŠE daily.
§ 277. If a man has hired a ship of sixty GUR he shall pay one-sixth of a shekel of silver daily for its hire.
Compensation for defect discovered in a slave after sale
§ 278. If a man has bought a male or female slave and the slave has not fulfilled his month, but the bennu disease has fallen upon him, he shall return the slave to the seller and the buyer shall take back the money he paid.
§ 279. If a man has bought a male or female slave and a claim has been raised, the seller shall answer the claim.
Manumission of native slaves taken captive and bought back by travelling merchant
§ 280. If a man, in a foreign land, has bought a male, or female, slave of another, and if when he has come home the owner of the male or female slave has recognized his slave, and if the slave be a native of the land, he shall grant him his liberty without money.
Of foreign slaves
§ 281. If the slave was a native of another country, the buyer shall declare on oath the amount of money he paid, and the owner of the slave shall repay the merchant what he paid and keep his slave.
Punishment for repudiating a master
§ 282. If a slave has said to his master, “You are not my master,” he shall be brought to account as his slave, and his master shall cut off his ear.
General character of the ?ammurabi Code
This is not the place to write a commentary on the Code, but there are a few necessary cautions. One of the first is that most clauses are permissive rather than positive. The verb “shall” is not an imperative, but a future. Doubtless in case of heinous crimes the death-penalty had to be inflicted. But there was always a trial, and proof was demanded on oath. In many cases the “shall” is only permissive, as when the Code says a widow “shall” marry again. There is no proof that the jury decided only facts and found the prisoner guilty or not, leaving the judge no [pg 068] option but to inflict the extreme penalty. The judge, on the contrary, seems to have had much legislative power. When this view is taken, the Code appears no more severe than those of the Middle Ages, or even of recent times, when a man was hanged for sheep-stealing. There are many humanitarian clauses and much protection is given the weak and the helpless. One of the best proofs of its inherent excellence is that it helped to build up an empire, which lasted many centuries and was regarded with reverence almost to the end.
