§ 141

Law § 141 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If a man’s wife who was living in the man’s house has decided to leave and has been acquiring property illegally, squandering her own house, (and) belittling her husband, she will be convicted and, if her husband has ordered her divorce, he may divorce her; her travel provisions, her divorce payment, nothing will be given to her; if her husband has not ordered her divorce, her husband may (nevertheless) marry another woman; the aforesaid woman will dwell in her husband’s house as a slave.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Family and Divorce

Inscription

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 17, col. R VII, lns. 33–59)

Transliteration

šum-ma aš-ša-at a-wi-lim ša i-na É a-wi-lim wa-aš-ba-at a-na wa-ṣe-em pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an-ma sí-ki-il-tam i-sà-ak-ki-il É-sà ú-sà-ap-pa-aḫ mu-sà ú-ša-am-ṭa ú-ka-an-nu-ši-ma šum-ma mu-sà e-zé-eb-ša iq-ta-bi i-iz-zi-ib-ši ha-ra-an-ša ú-zu-ub-bu-ša mi-im-ma ú-ul in-na-ad-di-iš-ši-im šum-ma mu-sà la e-zé-eb-ša iq-ta-bi mu-sà MUNUS ša-ni-tam i-iḫ-ḫa-az MUNUS ši-i ki-ma GEME₂ i-na É mu-ti-ša uš-ša-ab

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 369)

Normalization

šumma aššat awīlim ša ina bīt awīlim wašbat ana waṣêm pānīša ištakam-ma sikiltam isakkil bīssa usappaḫ mussa ušamṭa, ukannūšī-ma, šumma mussa ezēbša iqtabi, izzibši; ḫarrāšša uzubbûša mimma ul innaddiššim; šumma mussa lā ezēbša iqtabi, mussa sinništam šanītam iḫḫaz; sinništum šī kīma amtim ina bīt mutīša uššab.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Translation

If a man’s wife who was living in the man’s house has decided to leave and has been acquiring property illegally, squandering her own house, (and) belittling her husband, she will be convicted and, if her husband has ordered her divorce, he may divorce her; her travel provisions, her divorce payment, nothing will be given to her; if her husband has not ordered her divorce, her husband may (nevertheless) marry another woman; the aforesaid woman will dwell in her husband’s house as a slave.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 141

Unavailable

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 17)
Cuneiform

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

Inscription

Location of Law § 141 · Powered by Stele3D^SM

Orientation Back

Side(s) Side 5

Column(s) Col. 30

Line(s) Lns. 33–59

Key

Law § 141

Prologue

Laws

Epilogue

Damage

Open Law § 141 in Stele3D^SM

Logic

Logic Map for § 141 · Powered by LawgicSniffer^SM

#

Steps

1 if:start If
2 condition:start
3 party:1 a man's
4 party:2 wife
5 action who was living in
6 party:1 the man's
7 item:1 house
8 action has decided to leave
9 condition:end
10 and and
11 condition:start
12 party:2 [she]
13 action has been acquiring
14 item:2 property
15 undefined illegally,
16 condition:end
17 and [and]
18 condition:start
19 party:2 [she]
20 action [has been] squandering
21 party:2 her own
22 item:1 house,
23 condition:end
24 and and
25 condition:start
26 party:2 [she]
27 action [has been] belittling
28 party:2 her
29 party:1 husband.
30 condition:end
31 then:start [then]
32 result:start
33 party:2 she
34 action will be convicted
35 result:end
36 then:end
37 and and,
38 if:start if
39 condition:start
40 party:2 her
41 party:1 husband
42 action has ordered
43 party:2 her
44 item:3 divorce,
45 condition:end
46 if:end
47 then:start [then]
48 result:start
49 party:1 he
50 action may divorce
51 party:2 her;
52 result:end
53 and [and]
54 result:start
55 party:2 her
56 item:4 travel provisions,
57 and [and]
58 party:2 her
59 item:5 divorce payment,
60 negation [will not]
61 action [be given]
62 or [or]
63 negation nothing
64 action will be given
65 party:2 to her;
66 result:end
67 then:end
68 if:start if
69 condition:start
70 party:2 her
71 party:1 husband
72 negation has not
73 action ordered
74 party:2 her
75 item:3 divorce
76 condition:end
77 if:end
78 then:start [then]
79 result:start
80 party:2 her
81 party:1 husband
82 action may (nevertheless) marry
83 party:3 another woman;
84 result:end
85 and [and]
86 result:start
87 party:2 the aforesaid woman
88 action will dwell in
89 party:2 her
90 party:1 husband's
91 item:1 house
92 party:4 as a slave.
93 result:end
94 then:end
95 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 141 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/141. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 2). § 141 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/141

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 141 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 2, 2023. Modified December 28, 2024. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/141.

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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§ 141