§ 177

Law § 177 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If a widow whose children are very young has decided to enter the house of another man, she will not enter without the consent of the judges; when she enters the house of another man, the judges will investigate the circumstances of her previous husband’s estate, and assign the estate of her previous husband to her future husband and that woman, and have them make out a document; they will look after the estate and raise the young children; they will not sell the furnishings; the buyer who buys the furnishings of the widow’s children will forfeit his silver; the property will return to its owner.

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Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Inheritance

Inscription

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 23, col. R XIV, lns. 22–60)

Transliteration

šum-ma NU.MU.SU ša DUMU.MEŠ-ša ṣe-eḫ-ḫe-ru a-na É ša-ni-im e-re-bi-im pa-ni-ša iš-ta-ka-an ba-lum da-a-a-ni ú-ul i-ir-ru-ub i-nu-ma a-na É ša-ni-im i-ir-ru-bu da-a-a-nu wa-ar-ka-at É mu-ti-ša pa-ni-im i-pár-ra-su-ma É ša mu-ti-ša pa-ni-im a-na mu-ti-ša wa-ar-ki-im ù MUNUS šu-a-ti i-pa-aq-qí-du-ma DUB-pa-am ú-še-ez-ze-bu-šu-nu-ti É i-na-ṣa-ru ù ṣe-eḫ-ḫe-ru-tim ú-ra-ab-bu-ú ú-ni-a-tim a-na KUG.BABBAR ú-ul i-na-ad-di-nu ša-a-a-ma-nu-um ša ú-nu-ut DUMU.MEŠ NU.MU.SU i-ša-am-mu i-na KUG.BABBAR-šu i-te-el-li NÍG.GA a-na be-lí-šu i-ta-ar

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 351)

Normalization

šumma almattum ša mārūša ṣeḫḫerū ana bīt(im) šanîm erēbim pānīša ištakan, balum dayyānī ul irrub; inūma ana bīt(im) šanîm irrubu, dayyānū warkat bīt mutīša pānîm iparrasū-ma bītam ša mutīša pānîm ana mutīša warkîm u sinništim šuāti ipaqqidū-ma ṭuppam ušezzebūšunūti; bītam inaṣṣarū u ṣeḫḫerūtim urabbû; uniātim ana kaspim ul inaddinū; šayyāmānum ša unūt mārī almattim išammu ina kaspīšu ītelli; makkūrum ana bēlīšu itâr.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 88)

Translation

If a widow whose children are very young has decided to enter the house of another man, she will not enter without the consent of the judges; when she enters the house of another man, the judges will investigate the circumstances of her previous husband’s estate, and assign the estate of her previous husband to her future husband and that woman, and have them make out a document; they will look after the estate and raise the young children; they will not sell the furnishings; the buyer who buys the furnishings of the widow’s children will forfeit his silver; the property will return to its owner.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 88)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 177

Unavailable

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 23)
Cuneiform

Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. LI-LII])
Cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 177 · Powered by Stele3D^SM

Orientation Back

Side(s) Side 5

Column(s) Col. 37

Line(s) Lns. 22–60

Key

Law § 177

Prologue

Laws

Epilogue

Damage

Open Law § 177 in Stele3D^SM

Logic

Logic Map for § 177 · Powered by LawgicSniffer^SM

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Steps

1 IF:START If
2 CONDITION:START
3 PARTY:1 a widow (whose)
4 PARTY:2 children
5 ACTION are very young
6 AND [and]
7 PARTY:1 [she]
8 ACTION has decided to enter
9 ITEM:1 the house
10 PARTY:3 (of) another man,
11 CONDITION:END
12 THEN:START [then]
13 RESULT:START
14 PARTY:1 she
15 NEGATION will not
16 ACTION enter without the consent of
17 PARTY:4 the judges;
18 RESULT:END
19 AND [and]
20 CONDITION:START
21 PARTY:1 (when) she
22 ACTION enters
23 ITEM:1 the house of
24 PARTY:3 another man,
25 CONDITION:END
26 THEN [then]
27 RESULT:START
28 PARTY:4 the judges
29 ACTION will investigate the circumstances of
30 PARTY:1 her
31 PARTY:5 previous husband’s
32 ITEM:2 estate,
33 RESULT:END
34 AND
35 RESULT:START
36 PARTY:4 [they]
37 ACTION [will] assign
38 ITEM:2 the estate of
39 PARTY:1 her
40 PARTY:5 previous husband
41 PARTY:1 (to) her
42 PARTY:3 future husband
43 AND and
44 PARTY:1 that woman,
45 AND and
46 ACTION have
47 PARTY:6 them [the woman and future husband]
48 ACTION make out
49 ITEM:3 a document;
50 RESULT:END
51 AND [and]
52 RESULT:START
53 PARTY:6 they
54 ACTION will look after
55 ITEM:2 the estate
56 AND and
57 PARTY:6 [they]
58 ACTION [will] raise
59 PARTY:2 the young children;
60 RESULT:END
61 AND [and]
62 RESULT:START
63 PARTY:6 they
64 NEGATION will not
65 ACTION sell
66 ITEM:4 the furnishings;
67 RESULT:END
68 AND [and]
69 RESULT:START
70 PARTY:7 the buyer
71 ACTION who buys
72 ITEM:4 the furnishings
73 PARTY:1 (of) the widow's
74 PARTY:2 children
75 ACTION will forfeit
76 PARTY:7 his
77 ITEM:5 silver;
78 RESULT:END
79 AND [and]
80 RESULT:START
81 ITEM:4 the property
82 ACTION will return to
83 ITEM:4 its
84 PARTY:2 owner.
85 RESULT:END
86 THEN:END
87 IF:END

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 177 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 4 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/177. [Accessed 19 Feb. 2025]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 4). § 177 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/177

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 177 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 4, 2023. Modified January 4, 2025. Accessed February 19, 2025. https://ehlaw.org/law/177.

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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§ 177