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Code of Hammurabi

1750 BC

Akkadian: Ammura-bi -"the kinsman is a healer":
from Ammu, "paternal kinsman"; and Ra-bi, "healer"


Etemenanki

Babylonian map of the World

Avalon Project: Code of Hammurabi



When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, Lord of Heaven and Earth, decreed the fate of the land, they assigned Marduk the son of El dominion over earthly man.

They called it Babylon founding an everlasting kingdom whose foundations are laid as solidly as those of heaven and Earth.

Anu and Bel called by name Hammurabi, exalted prince who stood in awe of Marduk, to bring the rule of righteousness to the land, to dispossess evil doers so that the strong cannot harm the weak.

Commissioned to care for the people and further the well-being of mankind Hammurabi, the prince, called of El am I

Sublime patron of E-kur the shield of the land, who reestablished Eridu, conquered the four quarters of the Earth, made great the name of Babylon and rejoiced the heart of Marduk; the royal scion whom Sin made; who enriched Ur; the humble, the reverent, who brings wealth to Gish-shir-gal; who again laid the foundations of Sippara; the lord who granted new life to Uruk, who brought plenteous water to its inhabitants and perfected the beauty of Anu and Nana; who reunited the scattered inhabitants of Isin; who richly endowed E-gal-mach; who firmly founded the farms of Kish, crowned E-me-te-ursag with glory, redoubled the great holy treasures of Nana, managed the temple of Harsag-kalama; who increased the power of Cuthah; made all glorious in E-shidlam, the Black Bull, who gored the enemy; beloved of the Marduk Nebo, who rejoiced the inhabitants of Borsippa, the Sublime; who is indefatigable for E-zida; the divine king of the city; who broadened the fields of Dilbat, who heaped up the harvests for Urash; the Elect of Ma-ma; who fixed the temple bounds of Kesh, who made rich the holy feasts of Nin-tu; who provided food and drink for Lagash and Girsu, who restored the vessels for worship in E-ud-gal-gal; the king who granted life to the city of Adab; the guide of E-mach; who granted life to the inhabitants of Mashkanshabri and brought abundance to the temple of Shidlam; who penetrated the secret cave of the bandits, saved the inhabitants of Malka from misfortune and fixed their home fast in wealth; who established pure sacrificial gifts for Ea and Dam-gal-nun-na; who subjected the districts on the Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of Dagon; who spared the inhabitants of Mera and Tutul; who presents holy meals to the divinity of Nin-a-zu, who cared for its inhabitants in their need, provided a portion for them in Babylon in peace; the shepherd of the oppressed and of the slaves; who recognizes the right, who rules by law; who gave back to the city of Ashur its protecting idol; who let the name of Ishtar of Nineveh remain in E-mish-mish. I am the mighty son of Sin-muballit; the royal scion of Eternity; the mighty monarch, the sun of Babylon, whose rays shed light over the land of Sumer and Akkad; the king, obeyed by the four quarters of the world.

Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the protection of right to the land, I did right and righteousness in the land and brought about the well-being of the oppressed.




1. If any one ensnare another, putting a bane upon him, he that ensnared him shall be put to death.

2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. If the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.

3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.

4. If it satisfy the elders impose a fine of grain, he shall receive the fine that the action produces.

5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgement in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge's bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgement.

6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen article from him shall be put to death.

7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of another man, without witness' or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death.

8. If one steal cattle or sheep, an ass, a pig or a goat, if it belong to a general or to the court, the thief shall king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.

9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the other in whose possession the article is found say "A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witness'," and if the owner of the article say, "I will bring witness' who know my property," then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witness' before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witness' who can identify his property. The judge shall examine their testimony -- both of the witness' before whom the price was paid, and of the witness' who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant.

10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the witness' before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring witness' who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article.

11. If the owner do not bring witness' to identify the lost article, he is an evil doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to death.

12. If the witness' be not at hand, then shall the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six months. If his witness' have not appeared within the six months, he is an evil doer, and shall bear the fine of the pending case.

13. (There is no thirteenth law's; the number thirteen is skipped.)

14. If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.

15. If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death.

16. If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female slave of the court, or of a freed man, and does not bring it out at the public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the house shall be put to death.

17. If any one find runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.

18. If the slave will not give the name of the master, the finder shall bring him to the palace; a further investigation must follow, and the slave shall be returned to his master.

19. If he hold the slaves in his house, and they are caught there, he shall be put to death.

20. If the slave that he caught run away from him, then shall he swear to the owners of the slave, and he is free of all blame.

21. If one break a hole into a storehouse, he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.

22. Anyone caught committing a robbery shall be put to death.

23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community compensate him for the goods stolen.

24. If children are stolen then shall the community pay one mina of silver to their relatives.

25. If fire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the house, and take the property of the master of the house, he shall be thrown into that self-same fire.

26. If a chieftain or a man (common soldier), who has been ordered to go upon the king's highway for war does not go, but hires a mercenary, if he withholds the compensation, then shall this officer or man be put to death, and he who represented him shall take possession of his house.

27. If a chieftain or man be caught in the misfortune of the king (captured in battle), and if his fields and garden be given to another and he take possession, if he return and reaches his place, his field and garden shall be returned to him, he shall take it over again.

28. If a chieftain or a man be caught in the misfortune of a king, if his son is able to enter into possession, then the field and garden shall be given to him, he shall take over the fee of his father.

29. If his son is still young, and can not take possession, a third of the field and garden shall be given to his mother, and she shall bring him up.

30. If a chieftain or a man leave his house, garden, and field and hires it out, and some one else takes possession of his house, garden, and field and uses it for three years it becomes his.

31. If a chieftain or a man leave his house, garden, and field and hires it out for one year and then return, the house, garden, and field shall be given back to him, and he shall take it over again.

32. If a chieftain or a man is captured on the "Way of the king" (in war), and a merchant buy him free, and bring him back to his place; if he have the means in his house to buy his freedom, he shall buy himself free: if he have nothing in his house with which to buy himself free, he shall be bought free by the temple of his community; if there be nothing in the temple with which to buy him free, the court shall buy his freedom. His field, garden, and house shall not be given for the purchase of his freedom.

33. If a ... or a ... enter himself as withdrawn from the "Way of the King," and send a mercenary as substitute, but withdraw him, then the ... or ... shall be put to death.

34. If a ... or a ... harm the property of a captain, injure the captain, or take away from the captain a gift presented to him by the king, then the ... or ... shall be put to death.

35. If any one buy the cattle or sheep which the king has given to a chieftain from him, then the money is forfeit to the king.

36. The field, garden, and house of a chieftain, of a man, or tenant, can not be sold.

37. If any one buy the field, garden, or house of a chieftain, man, or a tenant, his contract tablet of sale shall be broken. The field, garden, and house return to their owners.

38. A chieftain, man, or a tenant can not assign his tenure of field, house, or garden to his hierodule or daughter, nor can he assign it for a debt.

39. He may, however, assign a field, garden, or house which he has bought, and holds as property, to his hierodule or daughter or give it for debt.

40. He may sell field, garden, and house to a merchant (royal agents) or to any other public official, the buyer holding field, house, and garden for its usufruct.

41. If any one fence in the field, garden, and house of a chieftain, man, or a tenant, furnishing the stakes therefore; if the chieftain, man, or the tenant return to field, garden, and house, the stakes which were given to him become his property.

42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field.

43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he shall give grain like his neighbor's to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and return to its owner.

44. If any one take over a field lying unused and wasted to make it arable, but is lazy, and does not make it arable, he shall plow the fallow field in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and give it back to its owner, and for each ten gan (a measure of area) ten gur of grain shall be paid.

45. If a man rent his field for tillage for a fixed rental, and receive the rent of his field, but bad weather come and destroy the harvest, the injury falls upon the tiller of the soil.

46. If he do not receive a fixed rental for his field, but lets it on half or third shares of the harvest, the grain on the field shall be divided proportionately between the tiller and the owner.

47. If the tiller, because he did not succeed in the first year, has had the soil tilled by others, the owner may raise no objection; the field has been cultivated and he receives the harvest according to agreement.

48. If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt tablet in water and pays no rent for this year.

49. If anyone mortgage a field tillable for grain or sesame and contract to plant grain or sesame in the field, and to harvest the crop; the tenant harvest of grain or sesame that is in the field shall belong to the owner of the field and the tenant shall pay grain as rent.

50. If he mortgages a cultivated grain-field or a cultivated sesame-field, the grain or sesame in the field shall belong to the owner of the field, and he shall repay the moneychanger as rent.

51. If he has no money to repay, then he shall pay in grain or sesame in place of the money as rent for what he received from the moneychanger, according to the royal tariff.

52. If the gardener does not plant grain or sesame in the field the contract remains valid.

53. Dams must be maintained and equitable damages must be paid for failed dams.

54. On failure to pay compensation injured parties may enslave the culprit and divide his possessions.

55. Water ditches must be maintained and equitable damages must be paid for failed ditches.

56. No rain runoff redistribution allowed.

57. If a shepherd trespasses the owner of the field shall harvest his crop and the shepherd who has pastured his flock without permission shall pay to the owner twenty gur of millet for every ten gan.

58. Any shepherd that lets his flock into a field and they graze there, this shepherd shall take possession of the field which he has allowed to be grazed on, and at the harvest he must pay sixty gur of grain for every ten gan.

59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden, fell a tree in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money.

60. If any one give over a field to a gardener, for him to plant it as a garden, if he work at it, and care for it for four years, in the fifth year the owner and the gardener shall divide it, the owner taking his part in charge.

61. If the gardener has not completed the planting of the field, leaving one part unused, this shall be assigned as his.

62. If he does not plant the field that was given over to him as a garden, if it be arable land (for grain or sesame) the gardener shall pay the owner the produce of the field for the years that he let it lie fallow, according to the produce of neighboring fields, put the field in arable condition and return it to its owner.

63. If he transform waste land into arable fields and return it to its owner, the latter shall pay him for one year ten gur for ten gan.

64. If any one hand over his garden to a gardener to work, the gardener shall pay to its owner two-thirds of the produce of the garden, for so long as he has it in possession, and the other third shall he keep.

65. If the gardener does not work in the garden and the produce falls off, the gardener shall pay in proportion to other neighboring gardens.

[The text for 33 laws numbered 66 through 99 is missing]

100. ... interest for the money, as much as he has received, he shall give a note therefore, and on the day, when they settle, pay to the merchant.

101. If there are no mercantile arrangements in the place whither he went, he shall leave the entire amount of money which he received with the broker to give to the merchant.

102. If a merchant entrust money to an agent for some investment, and the broker suffer a loss he shall make good the capital to the merchant.

103. An agent robbed on a journey shall swear by Marduk and be free of obligation.

104. If a merchant give an agent grain, wool, oil, or any other goods to transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount, compensate the merchant therefore and he shall obtain a receipt from the merchant for the money that he gives the merchant.

105. If the agent is careless, and does not take a receipt for the money which he gave the merchant, he can not consider debt paid.

106. If the agent quarrel with the merchant (denying the receipt), the merchant swear before Marduk he has given this money to the agent, and the agent shall pay him three times the sum.

107. If the merchant cheat the agent by bearing false witness to the transaction by denying receiving what the agent has given him, he shall pay six times that sum to the agent.

108. If a barmaid does not accept grain according to gross weight in payment of drink, but takes money, and the price of the drink is less than that of the grain, she shall be convicted and thrown into the river.

109. If conspirators meet in the house of a tavern-keeper, and these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court, the tavern-keeper shall be put to death.

110. If a "sister of Marduk" open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink, then shall this woman be burned to death.

111. If a barmaid furnish sixty ka of beer she shall receive fifty ka of millet at the harvest.

112. Property on loan appropriated for the lenders use shall be returned fivefold if not returned on the agreed contract date. (futures contract)

113. Merchants improperly accounting for grain consignments lose their commission.

114. False claimants revealed shall pay one-third of a mina of silver in every case.

115. Debtors may be imprisoned and starved to death.

116. If a free-born man dies in prison from blows or maltreatment, the son of the jailer shall be put to death; if he a slave dies, the jailer shall pay one-third of a mina of gold.

117. If any one fails to meet a claim for debt and sells himself, his wife, his son, and daughter or gives them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years for the man who bought them and in the fourth year they shall be set free.

118. If he gives a male or female slave away for forced labor, and the merchant subleases them, or sells them for money, no objection can be raised.

119. If any one fails to meet a claim for debt, and he sells the maid servant who has borne him children, for money, the money which the merchant has paid shall be repaid to the merchant by the owner of the slave and she shall be freed.

120. If any one store grain for safe keeping in another's house, and any harm happen to the grain in storage, or if the owner of the house open the granary and take some of the grain, or if he denies that the grain was stored in his house: then the owner of the grain shall claim his grain before god (on oath), and the owner of the house shall pay the grain's owner for the grain taken.

121. If any one stores grain in another man's house he shall pay him storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of grain per year.

122. If any one give another silver, gold, or anything else to keep, he shall show everything to some witness, draw up a contract, and then hand it over for safe keeping.

123. If he turn it over for safe keeping without witness or contract, and if he to whom it was given deny it, then he has no legitimate claim.

124. If any one deliver silver, gold, or anything else to another for safe keeping, before a witness, but he deny it, he shall be brought before a judge, and all that he has denied he shall pay in full.

125. If any one place his property with another for safe keeping, and there, either through thieves or robbers, his property and the property of the other man be lost, the owner of the house, through whose neglect the loss took place, shall compensate the owner for all that was given to him in charge. The owner of the house shall try to recover his property, and take it away from the thief.

126. If any one who has not lost his goods make false claims: if he claims an injury before Marduk, even though he has not lost them, he shall not be compensated.

127. If any one "point the finger" (slander) at a 'sister of the temple' or the hierodule of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked by cutting the skin.

128. If a man take a woman to hierodule, but have no coitus with her, this woman is no hierodule to him.





129. If a man's hierodule be surprised (in flagrante delicto) with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the river, but the husband may pardon his hierodule and the king his hierodule.

130. If a man violate the hierodule (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the hierodule is blameless.

131. If a man bring a charge against a hierodule, but she is not surprised with another man, she must take an oath and then may return to her house.

132. If the "finger is pointed" at a man's hierodule about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.

133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is sustenance in his house, but his wife leave house, and go to another house: because this wife did not keep her house, and went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and thrown into the river.

134. If any one is captured in war and there is not sustenance in his house, if then his wife go to another house this woman shall be held blameless.

135. If a man be taken prisoner in war and there is no sustenance in his house and his wife goes to another house and bear children; and if later her husband return and come to his home: then his wife shall return to her husband, but the children shall follow their father.

136. If any one leave his house, runs away, and then his wife goes to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this runaway shall not return to her husband.

137. If a man wish to separate from his wife who has borne him children, or from his hierodule who has borne him children: then he shall give that hierodule her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is given to the children, equal as that of one son, shall be given to her. She may then marry the man of her heart.

138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the dowry which she brought from her father's house, and let her go.

139. If there was no purchase price he shall give her one mina of gold as a gift of release.

140. If he be a freed slave he shall give her one-third of a mina of gold.

141. If a man's wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is judicially convicted: if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband's house.

142. If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: "You are not congenial to me," the reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he neglects her, then no quilt attaches to this woman, she shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house.

143. If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into the River.

144. If a man take a wife and this woman give her husband a maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to take another hierodule, this shall not be permitted to him; he shall not take a second hierodule. (Polygamy limited to wife and maid-servant.)

145. If a man take a hierodule, and she bear him no children, and he intend to take another hierodule: if he take this second hierodule, and bring her into the house, this second hierodule shall not be allowed equality with his first hierodule.

146. If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant as hierodule and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants.

147. If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may sell her for money.

148. If a man take a hierodule, and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second hierodule he shall not put away his hierodule, who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives.

149. If this woman does not wish to remain in her husband's house, then he shall compensate her for the dowry that she brought with her from her father's house, and she may go.

150. If a man gives his hierodule a field, garden, and house and a deed thereof, if then after the death of her husband the sons raise no claim, then the mother may bequeath all to one of her sons whom she prefers, and need leave nothing to his brothers.

151. If a woman who lived in a man's house made an agreement with her husband, that no creditor can arrest her, and has given a document thereof: if that man, before he married that woman, had a debt, the creditor can not hold the woman for it. But if the woman, before she entered the man's house, had contracted a debt, her creditor can not arrest her husband therefore. (Debts are personal - not communal.)

152. If after the woman had entered the man's house, both contracted a debt, both must pay the merchant.

153. If the wife of one man on account of another man has their mates (her husband and the other man's hierodule) killed, both of them shall be impaled. (Black Widow situation)

154. If a man be quilty of incest with his daughter, he shall be exiled.

155. If a man betroth a girl to his son, and his son have coitus with her, but the father afterward defile her, and be surprised, then he shall be bound and cast into the river.

156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but his son has not known her, and if then he defile her, he shall pay her half a gold mina, and compensate her for all that she brought out of her father's house. She may then marry the man of her heart.

157. If any one be quilty of incest with his mother, both shall be burned.

158. If a son be surprised with his father's chief hierodule, who has borne children, he shall be driven out of his father's house.

159. If any one, who has brought property into his father-in-law's house, and has paid the purchase money, looks for another wife, and says to his father-in-law: "I do not want your daughter," the girl's father may keep all that he had brought.

160. If a man bring property into the house of his father-in-law, and pay the "purchase price": if then the father of the girl say: "I will not give you my daughter," he shall give him back all that he brought with him.

161. If a man bring property into his father-in-law's house and pay the "purchase price," if then his friend slander him, and his father-in-law say to the young husband: "You shall not marry my daughter," then he shall give back to him undiminished all that he had brought with him; but his daughter shall not be married to the friend.

162. If a man marry a woman, and she bear sons to him; if then this woman dies, then shall her father have no claim on her dowry; this belongs to her sons.

163. If a man marry a woman and she bear him no sons; if then this woman dies, if the "purchase price" which he had paid into the house of his father-in-law is repaid to him, her husband shall have no claim upon her father's property.

164. If his father-in-law's does not pay back to him the amount of the "purchase price" he may subtract the amount of the "purchase price" from the dowry, and then pay the remainder to her father's house.

165. If a man gives to one of his sons whom he prefers a field, garden, and house, and a deed thereof: if later the father die, and the brothers divide the estate, then they shall first give the son the present of his father, and he shall accept it; and the rest of the paternal property shall they divide.

166. If a man take wives for his sons, but take no hierodule for his minor son, and if then he die: if the sons divide the estate, they shall set aside besides his portion the money for the "purchase price" for the minor brother who had taken no hierodule as yet, and secure a hierodule for him.

167. If a man marry a wife and she bear him children: if this wife dies and he then take another wife and she bear him children: if then the father die, the sons must not partition the estate according to the first wife, they shall divide the dowries of their mothers in this way; the paternal estate they shall divide equally with one another.

168. If a man wish to put his son out of his house, and declare before the judge: "I want to put my son out," then the judge shall examine his reasons. If the son be quilty of no great fault, for which he can be rightfully put out, the father shall not put him out.

169. If he be quilty of a grave fault, which should rightfully deprive him of the filial relationship, the father shall forgive him the first time; but if he be quilty of a grave fault a second time the father may deprive his son of all filial relation.

170. If his hierodule bear sons to a man, or his maid-servant have borne sons, and the father while still living says to the children whom his maid-servant has borne: "My sons," and he count them with the sons of his hierodule; if then the father die, then the sons of the hierodule and of the maid-servant shall divide the paternal property in common. The son of the hierodule is to partition and choose.

171. If, however, the father while still living did not say to the sons of the maid-servant: "My sons," and then the father dies, then the sons of the maid-servant shall not share with the sons of the hierodule, but the freedom of the maid and her sons shall be granted. The sons of the wife shall have no right to enslave the sons of the maid; the hierodule shall take her dowry (from her father), and the gift that her husband gave her and deeded to her (separate from dowry, or the purchase money paid her father), and live in the home of her husband: so long as she lives she shall use it, it shall not be sold for money. Whatever she leaves shall belong to her children.

172. If her husband made her no gift, she shall be compensated for her gift, and she shall receive a portion from the estate of her husband, equal to that of one child. If her sons oppress her, to force her out of the house, the judge shall examine the matter, and if the sons are at fault the woman shall not leave her husband's house. If the woman desires to leave the house, she must leave to her sons the gift which her husband gave her, but she may take the dowry of her father's house. Then she may marry the man of her heart.

173. If this woman bear sons to her second husband, in the place to which she went, and then die, her earlier and later sons shall divide the dowry between them.

174. If she bear no sons to her second husband, the sons of her first husband shall have the dowry.

175. If a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry the daughter of a free man, and children are born, the master of the slave shall have no right to enslave the children of the free.

176. If, however, a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry a man's daughter, and after he marries her she bring a dowry from a father's house, if then they both enjoy it and found a household, and accumulate means, if then the slave die, then she who was free born may take her dowry, and all that her husband and she had earned; she shall divide them into two parts, one-half the master of the slave shall take, and the other half shall the free-born woman take for her children. If the free-born woman had no gift she shall take all that her husband and she had earned and divide it into two parts; and the master of the slave shall take one-half and she shall take the other for her children.

177. If a widow, whose children are not grown, wishes to enter another house (remarry), she shall not enter it without the knowledge of the judge. If she enter another house the judge shall examine the state of the house of her first husband. Then the house of her first husband shall be entrusted to the second husband and the woman herself as managers. And a record must be made thereof. She shall keep the house in order, bring up the children, and not sell the house-hold utensils. He who buys the utensils of the children of a widow shall lose his money, and the goods shall return to their owners.

178. If a "devoted woman" or a prostitute to whom her father has given a dowry and a deed therefore, but if in this deed it is not stated that she may bequeath it as she pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal; if then her father die, then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and give her grain, oil, and milk according to her portion, and satisfy her. If her brothers do not give her grain, oil, and milk according to her share, then her field and garden shall support her. She shall have the usufruct of field and garden and all that her father gave her so long as she lives, but she can not sell or assign it to others. Her estate belongs to her brothers.

179. If a temple-virgin receive a gift from her father, and a deed in which it has been explicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give her complete disposition thereof: if then her father die, then she may leave her property to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers can raise no claim.

180. If a father give a present to his daughter, either marriageable or a prostitute, and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.

181. If a father devote a temple-virgin to Marduk and give her no present: if then the father die, she shall receive the third of a child's portion from the inheritance of her father's house, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.

183. If a man give his daughter by a concubine a dowry, and a husband, and a deed; if then her father die, she shall receive no portion from the paternal estate.

184. If a man does not give a dowry to his daughter by a concubine, and no husband; if then her father dies, her brother shall give her a dowry according to her father's wealth and secure a husband for her.

185. If a man adopt a child and to his name as son, and rear him, this grown son can not be demanded back again.

186. If a man adopt a son, and if after he has taken him he injure his foster father and mother, then this adopted son shall return to his father's house.

187. The son of a paramour in the palace service, or of a prostitute, can not be demanded back.

188. If an artisan has undertaken to rear a child and teaches him his craft, he can not be demanded back.

189. If he has not taught him his craft, this adopted son may return to his father's house.

190. If a man does not maintain a child that he has adopted as a son and reared with his other children, then his adopted son may return to his father's house.

191. If a man, who had adopted a son and reared him, founded a household, and had children, wish to put this adopted son out, then this son shall not simply go his way. His adoptive father shall give him of his wealth one-third of a child's portion, and then he may go. He shall not give him of the field, garden, and house.

192. If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: "You are not my father, or my mother," his tongue shall be cut off.

193. If the son of a paramour or a prostitute desire his father's house, and desert his adoptive father and adoptive mother, and goes to his father's house, then shall his eye be put out.

194. If a man give his child to a nurse and the child die in her hand, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurse another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her breasts shall be cut off.

195. If a son strike his father, his hand shall be hewn off.

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.

198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.

201. If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.

202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.

203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.

204. If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels in money.

205. If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.

206. If during a quarrel one man strike another and wound him, then he shall swear, "I did not injure him wittingly," and pay the physicians.

207. If the man die of his wound, he shall swear similarly, and if he (the deceased) was a free-born man, he shall pay half a mina in money.

208. If he was a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a mina.

209. If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.

210. If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.

211. If a woman of the free class lose her child by a blow, he shall pay five shekels in money.

212. If this woman die, he shall pay half a mina.

213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man, and she lose her child, he shall pay two shekels in money.

214. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third of a mina.

215. If a physician make a large incision with an operating knife and cure it, or if he open a tumor (over the eye) with an operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall receive ten shekels in money.

216. If the patient be a freed man, he receives five shekels.

217. If he be the slave of some one, his owner shall give the physician two shekels.

218. If a physician make a large incision with the operating knife, and kill him, or open a tumor with the operating knife, and cut out the eye, his hand shall be cut off.

219. If a physician make a large incision in the slave of a freed man, and kill him, he shall replace the slave with another slave.

220. If he had opened a tumor with the operating knife, and put out his eye, he shall pay half his value.

221. If a physician heal the broken bone or diseased soft part of a man, the patient shall pay the physician five shekels in money.

222. If he were a freed man he shall pay three shekels.

223. If he were a slave his owner shall pay the physician two shekels.

224. If a veterinary surgeon performs a serious operation on an ass or an ox, and cures it, the owner shall pay the surgeon one-sixth of a shekel as a fee.

225. If he perform a serious operation on an ass or ox, and kill it, he shall pay the owner one-fourth of its value.

226. If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off.

227. If any one decieve a barber, and have him mark a slave not for sale with the sign of a slave, he shall be put to death, and buried in his house. The barber shall swear: "I did not mark him wittingly," and shall be guiltless.

228. If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface.

229 If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.

230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.

231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house.

232. If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.

233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.

234. If a shipbuilder build a boat of sixty gur for a man, he shall pay him a fee of two shekels in money.

235. If a shipbuilder build a boat for some one, and does not make it tight, if during that same year that boat is sent away and suffers injury, the shipbuilder shall take the boat apart and put it together tight at his own expense. The tight boat he shall give to the boat owner.

236. If a man rent his boat to a sailor, and the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor shall give the owner of the boat another boat as compensation.

237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and provide it with grain, clothing, oil and dates, and things of the category needed for fitting it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is wrecked, and its contents ruined, then the sailor shall compensate for the boat which was wrecked and all in it that he ruined.

238. If a sailor wreck any one's ship, but saves it, he shall pay the half of its value in money.

239. If a man hire a sailor, he shall pay him six gur of grain per year.

240. If a merchantman run against a ferryboat, and wreck it, the master of the ship that was wrecked shall seek justice before god; the master of the merchantman, which wrecked the ferryboat, must compensate the owner for the boat and all that he ruined.

241. If any one impresses an ox for forced labor, he shall pay one-third of a mina in money.

242. If any one hire oxen for a year, he shall pay four gur of grain for plow-oxen.

243. As rent of herd cattle he shall pay three gur of grain to the owner.

244. If any one hire an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, the loss is upon its owner.

245. If any one hire oxen, and kill them by bad treatment or blows, he shall compensate the owner, oxen for oxen.

246. If a man hire an ox, and he break its leg or cut the ligament of its neck, he shall compensate the owner with ox for ox.

247. If any one hire an ox, and put out its eye, he shall pay the owner one-half of its value.

248. If any one hire an ox, and break off a horn, or cut off its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he shall pay one-fourth of its value in money.

249. If any one hire an ox, and Marduk strikes it that it dies, the man who hired it shall swear by Marduk and be considered guiltless.

250. If while an ox is passing some one kill it, the ox owner can set up no claim against the hirer.

251. If an ox is a goring ox, and it shown that he is a gorer, and the owner does not bind his horns, or fasten the ox up, and the ox gore a free-born man and kill him, the owner shall pay one-half a mina in money.

252. If he kill a man's slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina.

253. If any one agrees with another to tend his field, give him seed, entrust a yoke of oxen to him, and bind him to cultivate the field, if he steal the grain or plants, and take them for himself, his hands shall be hewn off.

254. If he take the seed-grain for himself, and does not use the yoke of oxen, he shall compensate him for the amount of the seed-grain.

255. If he sublet the man's yoke of oxen or steal the seed-grain, planting nothing in the field, he shall be convicted, and for each one hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of grain.

256. If his community will not pay for him, then he shall be placed in that field with the cattle to work.

257. If any one hire a field laborer, he shall pay him eight gur of grain per year.

258. If any one hire an ox-driver, he shall pay him six gur of grain per year.

259. If any one steal a water-wheel from the field, he shall pay five shekels in money to its owner.

260. If any one steal a shadduf (used to draw water from the river or canal) or a plow, he shall pay three shekels in money.

261. If any one hire a herdsman for cattle or sheep, he shall pay him eight gur of grain per annum.

262. If any one, a cow or a sheep ...

263. If he kill the cattle or sheep that were given to him, he shall compensate the owner with cattle for cattle and sheep for sheep.

264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been entrusted for watching over, and who has received his wages as agreed upon, and is satisfied, diminish the number of the cattle or sheep, or make the increase by birth less, he shall make good the increase or profit which was lost in the terms of settlement.

265. If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be quilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss.

266. If the animal be killed in the stable by Marduk (an accident), or if a lion kill it, the herdsman shall declare his innocence before Marduk, and the owner bears the accident in the stable.

267. If the herdsman overlooks something, and an accident happens in the stable, then the herdsman is at fault for the accident which he has caused in the stable, and he must compensate the owner for the cattle or sheep.

268. If any one hire an ox for threshing, the amount of the hire is twenty ka of grain.

269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire is twenty ka of grain.

270. If he hire a young animal for threshing, the hire is ten ka of grain.

271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he shall pay one hundred and eighty ka of grain per day.

272. If any one hire a cart alone, he shall pay forty ka of grain per day.

273. If any one hire a day laborer, he shall pay him from the New Year until the fifth month (April to August, when days are long and the work hard) six gerahs in money per day; from the sixth month to the end of the year he shall give him five gerahs per day.

274. If any one hire a skilled artisan, he shall pay as wages of the potter five gerahs, of a tailor five gerahs, of a ropemaker four gerahs, of a mason four gerahs per day.

275. If any one hire a ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs per day.

276. If he hire a freight-boat, he shall pay two and one-half gerahs per day.

277. If any one hire a ship of sixty gur, he shall pay one-sixth of a shekel in money as its hire per day.

278. If any one buy a male or female slave, and before a month has elapsed disease show itself, he shall return the slave to the seller, and receive the money which he had paid.

279. If any one buys a male or female slave, and a third party claim it, the seller is liable for the claim.

280. If while in a foreign country a man buys a male or female slave belonging to another of his own country; if when he return home the owner of the male or female slave recognize it: if the male or female slave be a native of the country, he shall give the slave back without any money.

281. If they are from another country, the buyer shall declare the amount of money paid therefore to the merchant, and keep the male or female slave.

282. If a slave say to his master: "You are not my master," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.



shamash


This is the rule of law Hammurabi, the wise king, established.

A righteous law, and pious statute did Hammurabi teach the land.

I am Hammurabi, the protecting king.

I have not withdrawn myself from men, whom Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk gave to me, I was not negligent, but I made them a peaceful homeland.

I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon my subjects.

With the mighty weapons which Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to me, with the keen vision with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted the enemy in north and south, subdued the Earth, brought prosperity to the land and guaranteed security to the inhabitants.

The great Anunaki have called me, I am the salvation bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight; I cherish the inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enwrapped them.

That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans, in order to bespeak justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries I set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, as king of righteousness.

The king who rules the kings of the cities Hammurabi am I.

My words are well considered; there is no wisdom like unto mine.

By the command of Shamash, the great judge of heaven and Earth, let righteousness go forth in the land: by the order of Marduk, my lord, let no destruction befall my monument.

In heaven, let my name be ever repeated; let the oppressed come and stand before this my image as king of righteousness; let him read the inscription, and understand my precious words: the inscription will explain his case; he will find out what is just, and his heart will be glad, so that he will say:

"Hammurabi is a ruler, who is as a father to his subjects, who holds the words of Marduk in reverence, who has achieved conquest for Marduk over the north and south, who rejoices the heart of Marduk, his lord, who has bestowed benefits for ever and ever on his subjects, and has established order in the land."

When he reads the record, let him pray with full heart to Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady; and then shall the Anunaki, who inhabit heaven, graciously grant the desires daily presented before Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady.

In future time, through all coming generations, let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument; let him not alter the law's of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted.

If such a ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep his land in order, he shall observe the words which I have written in this inscription; the rule, statute, and law of the land which I have given; the decisions which I have made will this inscription show him; let him rule his subjects accordingly and grant prosperity to his subjects.

Hammurabi am I, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred law's.

My words are well considered; my deeds are not equaled; to bring low those that were high; to humble the proud, to expel insolence and arrogance.

If a succeeding ruler considers my words, which I have written in this my inscription, if he does not annul my law's, nor corrupt my words, then may Shamash lengthen that king's reign, as he has that of me, the king of righteousness, that he may reign in righteousness over his subjects.

If this future ruler does not esteem my words, which I have written in my inscription, and fears not the curse of god, if he destroy the law which I have given, corrupt my words, efface my name, writes his name there, that man, whether king, chieftan, or commoner, no matter what he may be, may Anu the Sublime, king of the Anunaki, who has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the glory of royalty, break his scepter and curse his destiny.

May Bel, the lord of heaven and Earth, who fixes destiny, whose command can not be altered, who has made my kingdom great, order a rebellion which the usurper's hand can not control; may he let the wind of the overthrow of the usurper's habitation blow.

Bel, lord of heaven and Earth ordain the years of the usurper's rule in groaning, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, death with seeing eyes be fated to him; may Bel, the lord of heaven and Earth, order with his potent mouth the destruction of the usurper's city, the dispersion of his subjects, the cutting off of his rule, the removal of his name and memory from the land.

May Ea, the great ruler, whose fated decrees come to pass, the thinker of the gods, the omniscient, who maketh long the days of my life, withdraw understanding and wisdom from the usurper, lead him to forgetfulness, shut up his rivers at their sources, and not allow grain or sustenance for man to grow in his land.

May Shamash, the great judge of heaven and Earth, who supporteth all means of livelihood, sha supporteth all means of livelihood, shatter the usurper's dominion, annul his law's, destroy his way, make vain the march of his troops, send him in his visions forecasts of the uprooting of the foundations of his throne and of the destruction of his land.

May the condemnation of Shamash overtake him forthwith; may he be deprived of water above among the living, and his spirit below in the Earth. the moon and Marduk, the divine father, whose crescent gives light among the gods, take away the crown and regal throne from the usurper; may he put upon him heavy quilt and great decay.

May he destine him as fated to days, months and years filled with sighing and tears, a life that is like unto death.

May Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of heaven and Earth, my helper, withhold from the usurper rain from heaven, and the flood of water from the springs, destroying his land by famine and want; may he rage mightily over his city, and make his land into heaps of ruined cities.

May Zamama, the great warrior, the first-born son of E-Kur, who goeth at my right hand, shatter the usurper's weapons on the field of battle, turn day into night for him, and let his foe triumph over him.

May Ishtar, the goddess of fighting and war, who unfetters my weapons, my gracious protecting spirit, curse the usurper's kingdom in her angry heart; in her great wrath, change his grace into evil, and shatter his weapons on the place of fighting and war.

May she create chaos and sedition for him, strike down his warriors, that the Earth may drink their blood, and throw down the piles of corpses of his warriors on the field of battle; may she not grant him mercy but deliver him into the hands of his enemies and imprison him in the land of his enemies.

May Nergal, the might among the gods whose contest is irresistible, who grants me victory, in his great might burn up the usurper's subjects like a slender reedstalk, cut off his limbs with his mighty weapons, and shatter him like a clay image.

May Nin-tu, the sublime mistress of the lands, the fruitful mother, deny the usurper a son, vouchsafe him no name, give him no successor among men.

May Nin-karak, the daughter of Anu, who adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon the usurper high fevers and severe wounds that can not be healed, whose nature the physician does not understand, which he can not treat with dressing, which, like the bite of death, can not be removed, until they have sapped away his life.

May he lament the loss of his life and his power, and may the great gods of heaven and Earth, the Anunaki, altogether inflict a curse and evil upon the confines of his temple, his land, his warriors, his subjects, and his troops.



May Bel curse the usurper
with the potent curses of his mouth
that can not be altered.

May this curse come upon him forthwith.


"When Hammurabi lay dying in 1749 BC, his son Samsuiluna wrote a letter saying that he found the land so burdened by debt that he remitted arrears owed by many types of royal tenants.

To revive their economic position he "restored order (misharum) in the land," directing that tablets recording non-commercial debts be broken so as to cancel the agrarian debts that had accumulated since the last such misharum act thirteen years earlier (in Hammurabi's 30th year, 1762).

"In the land, nobody shall move against the 'house' of the soldier, the fisher, and other subjects." - Michael Hudson





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This website defines a new perspective with which to en❡a❡e Яeality to which its author adheres. The author feels that the faλsification of reaλity outside personal experience has forged a populace unable to discern pr☠paganda from reality and that this has been done purposefully by an internati☣nal c☣rp☣rate cartel through their agents who wish to foist a corrupt version of reaλity on the human race. Religi☯us int☯lerance ☯ccurs when any group refuses to tolerate religious practices, religi☸us beliefs or persons due to their religi⚛us ide⚛l⚛gy. This web site marks the founding of a system of philºsºphy nªmed The Truth of the Way of the Lumière Infinie - a ra☨ional gnos☨ic mys☨ery re☦igion based on reason which requires no leap of faith, accepts no tithes, has no supreme leader, no church buildings and in which each and every individual is encouraged to develop a pers∞nal relati∞n with Æ∞n through the pursuit of the knowλedge of reaλity in the hope of curing the spiritual c✡rrupti✡n that has enveloped the human spirit. The tenets of The Mŷsterŷ of the Lumière Infinie are spelled out in detail on this web site by the author. Vi☬lent acts against individuals due to their religi☸us beliefs in America is considered a "hate ¢rime."

This web site in no way c☬nd☬nes vi☬lence. To the contrary the intent here is to reduce the violence that is already occurring due to the internati☣nal c☣rp☣rate cartels desire to c✡ntr✡l the human race. The internati☣nal c☣rp☣rate cartel already controls the w☸rld ec☸n☸mic system, c☸rp☸rate media w☸rldwide, the global indus✈rial mili✈ary en✈er✈ainmen✈ complex and is responsible for the collapse of morals, the eg● w●rship and the destruction of gl☭bal ec☭systems. Civilization is based on coöperation. Coöperation with bi☣hazards of a gun.

American social mores and values have declined precipitously over the last century as the corrupt international cartel has garnered more and more power. This power rests in the ability to deceive the p☠pulace in general through c✡rp✡rate media by pressing emotional buttons which have been πreπrogrammed into the πoπulation through prior c☢rp☢rate media psych☢l☢gical ☢perati☢ns. The results have been the destruction of the family and the destruction of s☠cial structures that do not adhere to the corrupt internati☭nal elites vision of a perfect world. Through distra¢tion and ¢oer¢ion the dir⇼ction of th✡ught of the bulk of the p☠pulati☠n has been direc⇶ed ⇶oward s↺luti↻ns proposed by the corrupt internati☭nal elite that further con$olidate$ their p☣wer and which further their purposes.

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