§ 166

Law § 166 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man got wives for the sons he had (but) did not get a wife for his youngest son, after the father has gone to his fate, when the brothers take shares, they will set up out of the father’s property bride-price silver as an additional sum to his share for their young brother who does not have a wife, and obtain a wife for him.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Inheritance
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 166 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 21, col. R XI, lns. 51–73)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum a-na DUMU.MEŠ ša ir-šu-ú aš-ša-tim i-ḫu-uz a-na DUMU-šu ṣe-eḫ-ri-im aš-ša-tam la i-ḫu-uz wa-ar-ka a-bu-um a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-al-ku i-nu-ma aḫ-ḫu i-zu-uz-zu i-na NÍG.GA É A.BA a-na a-ḫi-šu-nu ṣe-eḫ-ri-im ša aš-ša-tam la aḫ-zu e-li-a-at zi-it-ti-šu KUG.BABBAR ter-ḫa-tim i-ša-ak-ka-nu-šum-ma aš-ša-tam ú-ša-aḫ-ḫa-zu-šu

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 107)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ana mārī ša iršû aššātim īḫuz ana mārīšu ṣeḫrim aššatam lā īḫuz warka abum ana šīmtim ittalku inūma aḫḫū izuzzū ina makkūr bīt abim ana aḫīšunu ṣeḫrim ša aššatam lā aḫzu eliāt zīttīšu kasap terḫatim išakkanūšum-ma aššatam ušaḫḫazūšu

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 107)

Translation

If a man got wives for the sons he had (but) did not get a wife for his youngest son, after the father has gone to his fate, when the brothers take shares, they will set up out of the father’s property bride-price silver as an additional sum to his share for their young brother who does not have a wife, and obtain a wife for him.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 107)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 166

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 21)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 166: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XLV–XLVI])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 166: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 166 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Back
Side(s) Side 5
Column(s) Col. 34
Line(s) Lns. 51–73
Key
Law § 166
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 166 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 166 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start if
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a man
  • 4 action got wives for
  • 5 party:2 the sons
  • 6 party:1 he
  • 7 action had
  • 8 condition:end
  • 9 but but
  • 10 condition:start
  • 11 party:1 [he]
  • 12 negation did not
  • 13 action get
  • 14 item:3 a wife
  • 15 party:1 (for) his
  • 16 party:4 youngest son,
  • 17 condition:end
  • 18 and after
  • 19 condition:start
  • 20 party:1 the father
  • 21 action has gone to
  • 22 party:1 his
  • 23 undefined fate,
  • 24 condition:end
  • 25 and when
  • 26 condition:start
  • 27 party:5 the brothers [the sons and the youngest son]
  • 28 action take shares,
  • 29 condition:end
  • 30 then:start [then]
  • 31 result:start
  • 32 party:2 they
  • 33 action will set up out of
  • 34 party:1 the father's
  • 35 item:1 property
  • 36 item:2 bride-price silver
  • 37 item:3 (as) an additional sum
  • 38 party:4 (to) his
  • 39 item:4 share
  • 40 party:2 (for) their
  • 41 party:4 young brother (who)
  • 42 negation does not
  • 43 action have
  • 44 party:3 a wife,
  • 45 result:end
  • 46 and and
  • 47 result:start
  • 48 party:2 [they]
  • 49 action obtain
  • 50 party:3 a wife
  • 51 party:4 (for) him.
  • 52 result:end
  • 53 then:end
  • 54 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 166 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/166. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 166 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/166

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 166 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 1, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/166.

CMS 16

Bibliography

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

ACH

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

CHTP

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

HAG3

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

HKEY3

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

–

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

RHL

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

SoT

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol commonly denotes "a shorthand notation for the word 'section'."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Cuneiform commonly means "an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Normalization commonly means "the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Translation commonly means "the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Transliteration commonly means "the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another."

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