§ 167

Law § 167 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man married a wife and she bore him children, (and) that woman has passed on, and after her (death) he has married another woman and she has born children, after the father has passed on the children will not share according to the mothers; they will receive their mothers’ dowry, but they will share the property of the father’s estate equally.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Inheritance
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 167 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 21, col. R XI–XII, lns. 74–87; 1–8)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum aš-ša-tam i-ḫu-uz-ma DUMU.MEŠ ú-li-súm MUNUS ši-i a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-la-ak wa-ar-ki-ša MUNUS ša-ni-tam i-ta-ḫa-az-ma DUMU.MEŠ it-ta-la-ad wa-ar-ka«-nu-um» a-bu-um a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-al-ku DUMU.MEŠ a-na um-ma-tim ú-ul i-zu-uz-zu še-ri-ik-ti um-ma-ti-šu-nu i-le-qú-ma NÍG.GA É A.BA mi-it-ḫa-ri-iš i-zu-uz-zu

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 178)

Normalization

šumma awīlum aššatam īḫuz-ma mārī ulissum, sinništum šī ana šīmtim ittalak, warkīša sinništam šanītam ītaḫaz-ma mārī ittalad, warka abum ana šīmtim ittalku, mārū ana ummātim ul izuzzū; šerikti ummātīšunu ileqqû-ma makkūr bīt abim mitḫāriš izuzzū.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 37)

Translation

If a man married a wife and she bore him children, (and) that woman has passed on, and after her (death) he has married another woman and she has born children, after the father has passed on the children will not share according to the mothers; they will receive their mothers’ dowry, but they will share the property of the father’s estate equally.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 37–38)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 167

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 21)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 167: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XLVI])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 167: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 167 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Back
Side(s) Sides 6 – 4 (overflow)
Column(s) Cols. 34–35
Line(s) Lns. 74–8
Key
Law § 167
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 167 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 167 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a man
  • 4 action married
  • 5 party:2 a wife
  • 6 condition:end
  • 7 and and
  • 8 condition:start
  • 9 party:2 she
  • 10 action bore
  • 11 party:1 him
  • 12 party:3 children,
  • 13 condition:end
  • 14 and and
  • 15 condition:start
  • 16 party:2 that woman
  • 17 action has passed on,
  • 18 condition:end
  • 19 and and after
  • 20 condition:start
  • 21 party:2 her (death)
  • 22 party:1 he
  • 23 action has married
  • 24 party:4 another woman
  • 25 condition:end
  • 26 and and
  • 27 condition:start
  • 28 party:4 she
  • 29 action has born
  • 30 party:3 children,
  • 31 condition:end
  • 32 then:start [then]
  • 33 condition:start
  • 34 undefined after
  • 35 party:1 the father
  • 36 action has passed on
  • 37 condition:end
  • 38 result:start
  • 39 party:3 the children [of the first and second wife]
  • 40 negation will not
  • 41 action share according to
  • 42 party:5 the mothers; [the first and second wife]
  • 43 result:end
  • 44 and [and]
  • 45 result:start
  • 46 party:3 they [all children]
  • 47 action will receive
  • 48 party:3 their
  • 49 party:5 [respective] mother's
  • 50 item:1 dowry,
  • 51 result:end
  • 52 but but
  • 53 result:start
  • 54 item:3 they
  • 55 action will share the property of
  • 56 party:1 the father's
  • 57 item:2 estate
  • 58 action equally.
  • 59 result:end
  • 60 then:end
  • 61 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 167 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/167. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 167 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/167

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 167 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 2, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/167.

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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