§ 172

Law § 172 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If her husband did not give her a wedding gift, they shall restore to her a dowry and she shall take the same share as a single heir from the property in the house of her husband. If her sons begin to pester her to make her leave the house, the judges shall make the decisions about her affairs and the sons shall bear the blame. That woman does not have to leave her husband's house. If that woman has made the decision to leave, she shall leave the gift her husband gave her for her sons. She shall take the dowry from her father's house. She shall choose a husband she likes.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Inheritance
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 172 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22, col. R XIII, lns. 6–40)

Transliteration

šum-ma mu-za nu-du-un-na-am la id-di-iš-ši-im še-ri-iḳ-ta-ša u-ša-la-mu-ši-im-ma i-na ŠA.GA bît mu-ti-ša ṣi-it-tam ki-ma ablim iš-te-en i-li-ḳi šum-ma mârê-ša aš-šum i-na bîtim šu-zi-im u-za-aḫ-ḫa-mu-ši da-a-a-nu wa-ar-ka-za i-par-ra-su-ma mârê ar-nam i-im-mi-du zinništum ši-i i-na bît mu-ti-ša u-ul uz-zi šum-ma zinništum ši-i a-na wa-ṣi-im pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an nu-du-un-na-am ša mu-za id-di-nu-ši-im a-na mârê-ša i-iz-zi-ib še-ri-iḳ-tam ša bît a-bi-ša i-li-ḳi-ma mu-ut li-ib-bi-ša i-iḫ-ḫa-az-zi

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 76f.)

Normalization

šumma mussa nudunnâm la iddiššim, šeriktaša ušallamūšimma ina makkūr bīt mutiša zittam kīma aplim ištēn ileqqe. šumma mārūša aššum ina bītim šūṣîm usaḫḫamūši, dayyānū warkassa iparrasūma mārī arnam immidū. sinništum šî ina bīt mutiša ul uṣṣi šumma sinništum šî ana waṣêm panīša ištakan nudunnâm ša mussa iddinušim ana mārīša izzib. šeriktam ša bīt abiša ileqqēma. mut libbiša iḫḫassi.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 96)

Translation

If her husband did not give her a wedding gift, they shall restore to her a dowry and she shall take the same share as a single heir from the property in the house of her husband. If her sons begin to pester her to make her leave the house, the judges shall make the decisions about her affairs and the sons shall bear the blame. That woman does not have to leave her husband's house. If that woman has made the decision to leave, she shall leave the gift her husband gave her for her sons. She shall take the dowry from her father's house. She shall choose a husband she likes.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 97)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 172

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 22)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 172: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XLVIII–XLIX])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 172: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 172 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Back
Side(s) Sides 4 – 5 (overflow)
Column(s) Col. 36
Line(s) Lns. 6–40
Key
Law § 172
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 172 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 172 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 her
  • 4 party:2 husband
  • 5 negation did not
  • 6 action give
  • 7 party:1 her
  • 8 item:1 a wedding gift,
  • 9 condition:end
  • 10 then:start [then]
  • 11 result:start
  • 12 party:3 they
  • 13 action shall restore to
  • 14 party:1 her
  • 15 item:2 a dowry
  • 16 result:end
  • 17 and and
  • 18 result:start
  • 19 party:1 she
  • 20 action shall take the same share as
  • 21 party:4 a single heir
  • 22 undefined from the property in
  • 23 item:3 the house
  • 24 party:1 (of) her
  • 25 party:2 husband.
  • 26 result:end
  • 27 then:end
  • 28 if:start If
  • 29 condition:start
  • 30 party:1 her
  • 31 party:5 sons
  • 32 action begin to pester
  • 33 party:1 her
  • 34 action to make
  • 35 party:1 her
  • 36 action leave
  • 37 item:3 the house,
  • 38 condition:end
  • 39 if:end
  • 40 then:start [then]
  • 41 result:start
  • 42 party:6 the judges
  • 43 action shall make the decisions about
  • 44 party:1 her
  • 45 item:4 affairs
  • 46 and and
  • 47 party:5 the sons
  • 48 action shall bear the blame.
  • 49 result:end
  • 50 and [and]
  • 51 result:start
  • 52 party:1 that woman
  • 53 negation does not
  • 54 action have to leave
  • 55 party:1 her
  • 56 party:2 husband's
  • 57 item:3 house.
  • 58 result:end
  • 59 then:end
  • 60 but [But]
  • 61 if:start if
  • 62 condition:start
  • 63 party:1 that woman
  • 64 action has made the decision to leave,
  • 65 condition:end
  • 66 if:end
  • 67 then:start [then]
  • 68 result:start
  • 69 party:1 she
  • 70 action shall leave
  • 71 item:1 the gift
  • 72 party:1 her
  • 73 party:2 husband
  • 74 action gave
  • 75 party:1 her
  • 76 party:1 (for) her
  • 77 party:5 sons.
  • 78 result:end
  • 79 and [and]
  • 80 result:start
  • 81 party:1 She
  • 82 action shall take
  • 83 item:2 the dowry
  • 84 party:1 (from) her
  • 85 party:7 father's
  • 86 item:3 house.
  • 87 result:end
  • 88 and [and]
  • 89 result:start
  • 90 party:1 She
  • 91 action shall choose a husband
  • 92 party:1 she
  • 93 action likes.
  • 94 result:end
  • 95 then:end
  • 96 if:end

Vocabulary

Akkadian Words · Powered by GrammarSnifferSM

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

libbiša (Noun form) Masculine Singular of libbu "heart"

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 172 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/172. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 172 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/172

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 172 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 1, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/172.

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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