§ 137

Law § 137 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If a man has decided to divorce a junior wife who bore him children or a nadītum who provided him with children, that woman’s dowry will be returned to her; further half of the field, orchard, and property will be given to her so that she may raise her children; after she has raised her children she will be given a share like (that of) an individual heir from whatever was given to her children, and then the man of her heart may marry her.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Family and Divorce

Inscription

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 16–17, col. R VI–VII, lns. 73–85; 1–13)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum a-na ^míšu-gi₄-tim ša DUMU.MEŠ ul-du-šum ù lu LUKUR ša DUMU.MEŠ ú-šar-šu-šu e-zé-bi-im pa-ni-šu iš-ta-ka-an a-na MUNUS šu-a-ti še-ri-ik-ta-ša ú-ta-ar-ru-ši-im ù mu-ut-ta-at A.ŠÀ KIRI₆ ù bi-ši-im i-na-ad-di-nu-ši-im-ma DUMU.MEŠ-ša ú-ra-ab-ba iš-tu DUMU.MEŠ-ša úr-ta-ab-bu-ú i-na mi-im-ma ša a-na DUMU.MEŠ-ša in-na-ad-nu zí-it-tam ki-ma ap-lim iš-te-en i-na-ad-di-nu-ši-im-ma mu-tu li-ib-bi-ša i-iḫ-ḫa-as-sí

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 383)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ana šugītim ša mārī uldūšum ū lū nadītim ša mārī ušaršûšu ezēbim pānīšu ištakan, ana sinništim šuāti šeriktaša utarrūšim; u muttat eqlim kirîm u bīšim inaddinūšim-ma mārīša urabba; ištu mārīša urtabbû ina mimma ša ana mārīša innadnu zīttam kīma aplim ištēn inaddinūšim-ma mutu libbīša iḫḫassi.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 101)

Translation

If a man has decided to divorce a junior wife who bore him children or a nadītum who provided him with children, that woman’s dowry will be returned to her; further half of the field, orchard, and property will be given to her so that she may raise her children; after she has raised her children she will be given a share like (that of) an individual heir from whatever was given to her children, and then the man of her heart may marry her.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 101)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 137

Unavailable

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 16–17)
Cuneiform

Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XXXVII])
Cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 137 · Powered by Stele3D^SM

Orientation Back

Side(s) Sides 6 – 4 (overflow)

Column(s) Cols. 29–30

Line(s) Lns. 74–13

Key

Law § 137

Prologue

Laws

Epilogue

Damage

Open Law § 137 in Stele3D^SM

Logic

Logic Map for § 137 · Powered by LawgicSniffer^SM

#

Steps

1 if:start If
2 condition:start
3 party:1 a man
4 action has decided to divorce
5 party:2 a hunior wife
6 action who bore
7 party:1 him
8 party:3 children
9 or or
10 party:4 a naditum
11 action who provided
12 party:1 him
13 party:3 (with) children,
14 condition:end
15 then:start [then]
16 result:start
17 party:2 that woman's
18 party:4 that woman's
19 item:1 dowry
20 action will be returned to
21 party:2 her;
22 party:4 her;
23 result:end
24 and further
25 result:start
26 undefined half of
27 item:2 the field,
28 or [or]
29 item:3 orchard,
30 and and
31 item:4 property
32 action will be given
33 party:2 to her
34 party:4 to her
35 undefined so that
36 party:2 she
37 party:4 she
38 action may raise
39 party:2 her
40 party:4 her
41 party:3 children,
42 result:end
43 then:end
44 condition:start
45 undefined after
46 party:2 she
47 party:4 she
48 action has raised
49 party:2 her
50 party:4 her
51 party:3 children
52 condition:end
53 then:start [then]
54 result:start
55 party:2 she
56 party:4 she
57 action will be given
58 item:5 a share
59 undefined like that of
60 party:5 an individual heir
61 undefined from
62 item:6 whatever
63 action was given to
64 party:2 her
65 party:4 her
66 party:3 children,
67 result:end
68 and and
69 then then
70 result:start
71 party:6 the man
72 party:2 (of) her
73 party:4 (of) her
74 item:7 heart
75 action may marry
76 party:2 her.
77 party:4 her.
78 result:end
79 then:end
80 if:end

Vocabulary

Akkadian Words · Powered by GrammarSniffer^SM

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

awīlum (Noun form) Masculine Singular Nominative of awīlu "man"

šugītim (Noun form) Feminine Singular Genitive of šugītu "priestess"

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 137 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/137. [Accessed 8 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 137 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/137

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 137 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified December 27, 2024. Accessed November 8, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/137.

CMS 16

Bibliography

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

ACH

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

CHTP

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

HAG3

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

HKEY3

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

–

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

RHL

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

SoT

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§ 137