§ 171

Law § 171 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

But if the father during his life did not say to the children that the slave bore him, “my children,” after the father has passed on, the children of the slave will not share with the children of the wife in the property of the paternal estate; the freedom of the slave and her children will be established; the children of the wife may not claim the children of the slave for slavery; the wife will take her dowry and the wedding gift that her husband gave her (and) registered in a document for her, and live in her husband’s residence; she may use (it) as long as she is alive, (but) may not sell (it); her inheritance is her children’s only.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Inheritance

Inscription

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22, col. R XII–XIII, lns. 61–89; 1–5)

Transliteration

ù šum-ma a-bu-um i-na bu-ul-ṭì-šu a-na DUMU.MEŠ ša GEME₂ ul-du-šum DUMU.MEŠ-ú-a la iq-ta-bi wa-ar-ka a-bu-um a-na ši-im-tim it-ta-al-ku i-na NÍG.GA É A.BA DUMU.MEŠ GEME₂ it-ti DUMU.MEŠ ḫi-ir-tim ú-ul i-zu-uz-zu an-du-ra-ar GEME₂ ù DUMU.MEŠ-ša iš-ša!(TA)-ak-ka-an DUMU.MEŠ ḫi-ir-tim a-na DUMU.MEŠ GEME₂ a-na wa-ar-du-tim ú-ul i-ra-ag-gu-mu ḫi-ir-tum še-ri-ik-ta-ša ù nu-du-na-am ša mu-sà id-di-nu-ši-im i-na DUB-pí-im iš-ṭú-ru-ši-im i-le-qé-ma i-na šu-ba-at mu-ti-ša uš-ša-ab a-di ba-al-ṭa-at i-ik-ka-al a-na KUG.BABBAR ú-ul i-na-ad-di-in wa-ar-ka-sà ša DUMU.MEŠ-ša-ma

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 291)

Normalization

u šumma abum ina bulṭīšu ana mārī ša amtum uldūšum “mārūya” lā iqtabi, warka abum ana šīmtim ittalku ina makkūr bīt abim mārū amtim itti mārī ḫīrtim ul izuzzū; andurār amtim u mārīša iššakkan; mārū ḫīrtim ana mārī amtim ana wardūtim ul iraggumū; ḫīrtum šeriktaša u nudunnâm ša mussa iddinūšim ina ṭuppim išṭurūšim ileqqē-ma ina šubat mutīša uššab; adi balṭat ikkal; ana kaspim ul inaddin; warkassa ša mārīšā-ma.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 69)

Translation

But if the father during his life did not say to the children that the slave bore him, “my children,” after the father has passed on, the children of the slave will not share with the children of the wife in the property of the paternal estate; the freedom of the slave and her children will be established; the children of the wife may not claim the children of the slave for slavery; the wife will take her dowry and the wedding gift that her husband gave her (and) registered in a document for her, and live in her husband’s residence; she may use (it) as long as she is alive, (but) may not sell (it); her inheritance is her children’s only.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 69)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 171

Unavailable

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22)
Cuneiform

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

Inscription

Location of Law § 171 · Powered by Stele3D^SM

Orientation Back

Side(s) Sides 5 – 4 (overflow)

Column(s) Cols. 35–36

Line(s) Lns. 60–5

Key

Law § 171

Prologue

Laws

Epilogue

Damage

Open Law § 171 in Stele3D^SM

Logic

Logic Map for § 171 · Powered by LawgicSniffer^SM

#

Steps

1 if:start But if
2 condition:start
3 party:1 tha father
4 undefined during
5 party:1 his life
6 negation did not
7 action say to
8 party:2 the children (that)
9 party:3 the slave
10 action bore
11 party:1 him,
12 party:1 "my
13 party:2 children,"
14 condition:end
15 and [and] after
16 condition:start
17 party:1 the father
18 action has passed on
19 condition:end
20 then:start [then]
21 result:start
22 party:2 the children (of)
23 party:3 the slave
24 negation will not
25 action share with
26 party:4 the children (of)
27 party:5 the wife
28 item:1 (in) the property of
29 item:2 the paternal estate;
30 result:end
31 and [and]
32 result:start
33 item:3 the freedom
34 party:3 (of) the slave
35 and and
36 party:3 her
37 party:2 children
38 action will be established;
39 result:end
40 and [and]
41 result:start
42 party:4 the children
43 party:5 (of) the wife
44 negation may not
45 action claim
46 party:2 the children
47 party:3 (of) the slave
48 item:4 (for) slavery;
49 result:end
50 and [and]
51 result:start
52 party:5 the wife
53 action will take
54 party:5 her
55 item:5 dowry
56 and and
57 item:6 the wedding gift that
58 party:5 her
59 party:1 husband
60 action gave
61 party:5 her
62 and and
63 party:1 [he]
64 action registered in a document
65 party:5 (for) her,
66 result:end
67 and [and]
68 result:start
69 party:5 she
70 action [will] live in
71 party:5 her
72 party:1 husband's
73 item:1 residence;
74 result:end
75 result:start
76 party:5 she
77 action may use
78 item:7 it [her dowry and wedding gift]
79 condition as long as
80 party:5 she
81 action is alive,
82 result:end
83 but but
84 result:start
85 party:5 [she]
86 negation may not
87 action sell
88 party:7 it;
89 result:end
90 and [and]
91 result:start
92 party:5 her
93 item:7 inheritance
94 action is
95 party:5 her
96 party:4 children’s only.
97 result:end
98 then:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 171 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/171. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 171 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/171

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 171 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 2, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/171.

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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§ 171