-- Mesopotamian Laws, c. 2250 - 550 BCE
Translated by L. W. King
When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of
Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to
Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion
over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called
Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and
founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid
so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called
by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to
bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the
wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the
weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like
Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of
mankind.
Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I, making riches and
increase, enriching Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, sublime
patron of E-kur; who reestablished Eridu and purified the worship
of E-apsu; who conquered the four quarters of the world, made
great the name of Babylon, rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord
who daily pays his devotions in Saggil; the royal scion whom Sin
made; who enriched Ur; the humble, the reverent, who brings wealth
to Gish-shir-gal; the white king, heard of Shamash, the mighty,
who again laid the foundations of Sippara; who clothed the
gravestones of Malkat with green; who made E-babbar great, which
is like the heavens, the warrior who guarded Larsa and renewed E-babbar,
with Shamash as his helper; the lord who granted new life to Uruk,
who brought plenteous water to its inhabitants, raised the head of
E-anna, and perfected the beauty of Anu and Nana; shield of the
land, who reunited the scattered inhabitants of Isin; who richly
endowed E-gal-mach; the protecting king of the city, brother of
the god Zamama; who firmly founded the farms of Kish, crowned
E-me-te-ursag with glory, redoubled the great holy treasures of
Nana, managed the temple of Harsag-kalama; the grave of the enemy,
whose help brought about the victory; who increased the power of
Cuthah; made all glorious in E-shidlam, the black steer, who gored
the enemy; beloved of the god Nebo, who rejoiced the inhabitants
of Borsippa, the Sublime; who is indefatigable for E-zida; the
divine king of the city; the White, Wise; who broadened the fields
of Dilbat, who heaped up the harvests for Urash; the Mighty, the
lord to whom come scepter and crown, with which he clothes
himself; the Elect of Ma-ma; who fixed the temple bounds of Kesh,
who made rich the holy feasts of Nin-tu; the provident,
solicitous, who provided food and drink for Lagash and Girsu, who
provided large sacrificial offerings for the temple of Ningirsu;
who captured the enemy, the Elect of the oracle who fulfilled the
prediction of Hallab, who rejoiced the heart of Anunit; the pure
prince, whose prayer is accepted by Adad; who satisfied the heart
of Adad, the warrior, in Karkar, who restored the vessels for
worship in E-ud-gal-gal; the king who granted life to the city of
Adab; the guide of E-mach; the princely king of the city, the
irresistible warrior, who granted life to the inhabitants of
Mashkanshabri, and brought abundance to the temple of Shidlam; the
White, Potent, who penetrated the secret cave of the bandits,
saved the inhabitants of Malka from misfortune, and fixed their
home fast in wealth; who established pure sacrificial gifts for Ea
and Dam-gal-nun-na, who made his kingdom everlastingly great; the
princely king of the city, who subjected the districts on the
Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of Dagon, his Creator; who spared
the inhabitants of Mera and Tutul; the sublime prince, who makes
the face of Ninni shine; who presents holy meals to the divinity
of Nin-a-zu, who cared for its inhabitants in their need, provided
a portion for them in Babylon in peace; the shepherd of the
oppressed and of the slaves; whose deeds find favor before Anunit,
who provided for Anunit in the temple of Dumash in the suburb of
Agade; who recognizes the right, who rules by law; who gave back
to the city of Ashur its protecting god; who let the name of
Ishtar of Nineveh remain in E-mish-mish; the Sublime, who humbles
himself before the great gods; successor of Sumula-il; the mighty
son of Sin-muballit; the royal scion of Eternity; the mighty
monarch, the sun of Babylon, whose rays shed light over the land
of Sumer and Akkad; the king, obeyed by the four quarters of the
world; Beloved of Ninni, am I.
When Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the protection of
right to the land, I did right and righteousness in ..., and
brought about the well-being of the oppressed.
The Code of Laws
1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he
can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the
accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the
river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the
river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt,
then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death,
while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the
house that had belonged to his accuser.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the
elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be
a capital offense charged, be put to death.
4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money,
he shall receive the fine that the action produces.
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his
judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision,
and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times
the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed
from the judge's bench, and never again shall he sit there to
render judgement.
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court,
he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen
thing from him shall be put to death.
7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of another man,
without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female
slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in
charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death.
8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a
goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay
thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king
he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay
he shall be put to death.
9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of
another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say
"A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses," and if
the owner of the thing say, "I will bring witnesses who know my
property," then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it
to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner
shall bring witnesses who can identify his property. The judge
shall examine their testimony -- both of the witnesses before whom
the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost
article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and
shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his
property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the
estate of the merchant.
10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the
witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring
witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall
be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article.
11. If the owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost
article, he is an evil-doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to
death.
12. If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall the judge set a
limit, at the expiration of six months. If his witnesses have not
appeared within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and shall bear
the fine of the pending case.
14. If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall be put
to death.
15. If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a
male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he
shall be put to death.
16. If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female
slave of the court, or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at
the public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the
house shall be put to death.
17. If any one find runaway male or female slaves in the open
country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves
shall pay him two shekels of silver.
18. If the slave will not give the name of the master, the
finder shall bring him to the palace; a further investigation must
follow, and the slave shall be returned to his master.
19. If he hold the slaves in his house, and they are caught
there, he shall be put to death.
20. If the slave that he caught run away from him, then shall
he swear to the owners of the slave, and he is free of all blame.
21. If any one break a hole into a house (break in to steal),
he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he
shall be put to death.
23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed
claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community,
and ... on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was
compensate him for the goods stolen.
24. If persons are stolen, then shall the community and ... pay
one mina of silver to their relatives.
25. If fire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put
it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the house,
and take the property of the master of the house, he shall be
thrown into that self-same fire.
26. If a chieftain or a man (common soldier), who has been
ordered to go upon the king's highway for war does not go, but
hires a mercenary, if he withholds the compensation, then shall
this officer or man be put to death, and he who represented him
shall take possession of his house.
27. If a chieftain or man be caught in the misfortune of the
king (captured in battle), and if his fields and garden be given
to another and he take possession, if he return and reaches his
place, his field and garden shall be returned to him, he shall
take it over again.
28. If a chieftain or a man be caught in the misfortune of a
king, if his son is able to enter into possession, then the field
and garden shall be given to him, he shall take over the fee of
his father.
29. If his son is still young, and can not take possession, a
third of the field and garden shall be given to his mother, and
she shall bring him up.
30. If a chieftain or a man leave his house, garden, and field
and hires it out, and some one else takes possession of his house,
garden, and field and uses it for three years: if the first owner
return and claims his house, garden, and field, it shall not be
given to him, but he who has taken possession of it and used it
shall continue to use it.
31. If he hire it out for one year and then return, the house,
garden, and field shall be given back to him, and he shall take it
over again.
32. If a chieftain or a man is captured on the "Way of the
King" (in war), and a merchant buy him free, and bring him back to
his place; if he have the means in his house to buy his freedom,
he shall buy himself free: if he have nothing in his house with
which to buy himself free, he shall be bought free by the temple
of his community; if there be nothing in the temple with which to
buy him free, the court shall buy his freedom. His field, garden,
and house shall not be given for the purchase of his freedom.
33. If a ... or a ... enter himself as withdrawn from the "Way
of the King," and send a mercenary as substitute, but withdraw
him, then the ... or ... shall be put to death.
34. If a ... or a ... harm the property of a captain, injure
the captain, or take away from the captain a gift presented to him
by the king, then the ... or ... shall be put to death.
35. If any one buy the cattle or sheep which the king has given
to chieftains from him, he loses his money.
36. The field, garden, and house of a chieftain, of a man, or
of one subject to quit-rent, can not be sold.
37. If any one buy the field, garden, and house of a chieftain,
man, or one subject to quit-rent, his contract tablet of sale
shall be broken (declared invalid) and he loses his money. The
field, garden, and house return to their owners.
38. A chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent can not
assign his tenure of field, house, and garden to his wife or
daughter, nor can he assign it for a debt.
39. He may, however, assign a field, garden, or house which he
has bought, and holds as property, to his wife or daughter or give
it for debt.
40. He may sell field, garden, and house to a merchant (royal
agents) or to any other public official, the buyer holding field,
house, and garden for its usufruct.
41. If any one fence in the field, garden, and house of a
chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent, furnishing the
palings therefor; if the chieftain, man, or one subject to
quit-rent return to field, garden, and house, the palings which
were given to him become his property.
42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no
harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the
field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to
the owner of the field.
43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he
shall give grain like his neighbor's to the owner of the field,
and the field which he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and
return to its owner.
44. If any one take over a waste-lying field to make it arable,
but is lazy, and does not make it arable, he shall plow the fallow
field in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and give it back
to its owner, and for each ten gan (a measure of area) ten gur of
grain shall be paid.
45. If a man rent his field for tillage for a fixed rental, and
receive the rent of his field, but bad weather come and destroy
the harvest, the injury falls upon the tiller of the soil.
46. If he do not receive a fixed rental for his field, but lets
it on half or third shares of the harvest, the grain on the field
shall be divided proportionately between the tiller and the owner.
47. If the tiller, because he did not succeed in the first
year, has had the soil tilled by others, the owner may raise no
objection; the field has been cultivated and he receives the
harvest according to agreement.
48. If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates
the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for
lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any
grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for
this year.
49. If any one take money from a merchant, and give the
merchant a field tillable for corn or sesame and order him to
plant corn or sesame in the field, and to harvest the crop; if the
cultivator plant corn or sesame in the field, at the harvest the
corn or sesame that is in the field shall belong to the owner of
the field and he shall pay corn as rent, for the money he received
from the merchant, and the livelihood of the cultivator shall he
give to the merchant.
50. If he give a cultivated corn-field or a cultivated
sesame-field, the corn or sesame in the field shall belong to the
owner of the field, and he shall return the money to the merchant
as rent.
51. If he have no money to repay, then he shall pay in corn or
sesame in place of the money as rent for what he received from the
merchant, according to the royal tariff.
52. If the cultivator do not plant corn or sesame in the field,
the debtor's contract is not weakened.
53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition,
and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields
be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold
for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has
caused to be ruined.
54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his
possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has
flooded.
55. If any one open his ditches to water his crop, but is
careless, and the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he
shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss.
56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the
plantation of his neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn for every
ten gan of land.
57. If a shepherd, without the permission of the owner of the
field, and without the knowledge of the owner of the sheep, lets
the sheep into a field to graze, then the owner of the field shall
harvest his crop, and the shepherd, who had pastured his flock
there without permission of the owner of the field, shall pay to
the owner twenty gur of corn for every ten gan.
58. If after the flocks have left the pasture and been shut up
in the common fold at the city gate, any shepherd let them into a
field and they graze there, this shepherd shall take possession of
the field which he has allowed to be grazed on, and at the harvest
he must pay sixty gur of corn for every ten gan.
59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden,
fell a tree in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money.
60. If any one give over a field to a gardener, for him to
plant it as a garden, if he work at it, and care for it for four
years, in the fifth year the owner and the gardener shall divide
it, the owner taking his part in charge.
61. If the gardener has not completed the planting of the
field, leaving one part unused, this shall be assigned to him as
his.
62. If he do not plant the field that was given over to him as
a garden, if it be arable land (for corn or sesame) the gardener
shall pay the owner the produce of the field for the years that he
let it lie fallow, according to the product of neighboring fields,
put the field in arable condition and return it to its owner.
63. If he transform waste land into arable fields and return it
to its owner, the latter shall pay him for one year ten gur for
ten gan.
64. If any one hand over his garden to a gardener to work, the
gardener shall pay to its owner two-thirds of the produce of the
garden, for so long as he has it in possession, and the other
third shall he keep.
65. If the gardener do not work in the garden and the product
fall off, the gardener shall pay in proportion to other
neighboring gardens.
[The text for laws 66 through 99 is missing]
100. ... interest for the money, as much as he has received, he
shall give a note therefor, and on the day, when they settle, pay
to the merchant.
101. If there are no mercantile arrangements in the place
whither he went, he shall leave the entire amount of money which
he received with the broker to give to the merchant.
102. If a merchant entrust money to an agent (broker) for some
investment, and the broker suffer a loss in the place to which he
goes, he shall make good the capital to the merchant.
103. If, while on the journey, an enemy take away from him
anything that he had, the broker shall swear by God and be free of
obligation.
104. If a merchant give an agent corn, wool, oil, or any other
goods to transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount,
and compensate the merchant therefor. Then he shall obtain a
receipt form the merchant for the money that he gives the
merchant.
105. If the agent is careless, and does not take a receipt for
the money which he gave the merchant, he can not consider the
unreceipted money as his own.
106. If the agent accept money from the merchant, but have a
quarrel with the merchant (denying the receipt), then shall the
merchant swear before God and witnesses that he has given this
money to the agent, and the agent shall pay him three times the
sum.
107. If the merchant cheat the agent, in that as the latter has
returned to him all that had been given him, but the merchant
denies the receipt of what had been returned to him, then shall
this agent convict the merchant before God and the judges, and if
he still deny receiving what the agent had given him shall pay six
times the sum to the agent.
108. If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not accept corn
according to gross weight in payment of drink, but takes money,
and the price of the drink is less than that of the corn, she
shall be convicted and thrown into the water.
109. If conspirators meet in the house of a tavern-keeper, and
these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court,
the tavern-keeper shall be put to death.
110. If a "sister of a god" open a tavern, or enter a tavern to
drink, then shall this woman be burned to death.
111. If an inn-keeper furnish sixty ka of usakani-drink to ...
she shall receive fifty ka of corn at the harvest.
112. If any one be on a journey and entrust silver, gold,
precious stones, or any movable property to another, and wish to
recover it from him; if the latter do not bring all of the
property to the appointed place, but appropriate it to his own
use, then shall this man, who did not bring the property to hand
it over, be convicted, and he shall pay fivefold for all that had
been entrusted to him.
113. If any one have consignment of corn or money, and he take
from the granary or box without the knowledge of the owner, then
shall he who took corn without the knowledge of the owner out of
the granary or money out of the box be legally convicted, and
repay the corn he has taken. And he shall lose whatever commission
was paid to him, or due him.
114. If a man have no claim on another for corn and money, and
try to demand it by force, he shall pay one-third of a mina of
silver in every case.
115. If any one have a claim for corn or money upon another and
imprison him; if the prisoner die in prison a natural death, the
case shall go no further.
116. If the prisoner die in prison from blows or maltreatment,
the master of the prisoner shall convict the merchant before the
judge. If he was a free-born man, the son of the merchant shall be
put to death; if it was a slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina
of gold, and all that the master of the prisoner gave he shall
forfeit.
117. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell
himself, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them
away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house
of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and in the fourth
year they shall be set free.
118. If he give a male or female slave away for forced labor,
and the merchant sublease them, or sell them for money, no
objection can be raised.
119. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and he sell the
maid servant who has borne him children, for money, the money
which the merchant has paid shall be repaid to him by the owner of
the slave and she shall be freed.
120. If any one store corn for safe keeping in another person's
house, and any harm happen to the corn in storage, or if the owner
of the house open the granary and take some of the corn, or if
especially he deny that the corn was stored in his house: then the
owner of the corn shall claim his corn before God (on oath), and
the owner of the house shall pay its owner for all of the corn
that he took.
121. If any one store corn in another man's house he shall pay
him storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of corn per
year.
122. If any one give another silver, gold, or anything else to
keep, he shall show everything to some witness, draw up a
contract, and then hand it over for safe keeping.
123. If he turn it over for safe keeping without witness or
contract, and if he to whom it was given deny it, then he has no
legitimate claim.
124. If any one deliver silver, gold, or anything else to
another for safe keeping, before a witness, but he deny it, he
shall be brought before a judge, and all that he has denied he
shall pay in full.
125. If any one place his property with another for safe
keeping, and there, either through thieves or robbers, his
property and the property of the other man be lost, the owner of
the house, through whose neglect the loss took place, shall
compensate the owner for all that was given to him in charge. But
the owner of the house shall try to follow up and recover his
property, and take it away from the thief.
126. If any one who has not lost his goods state that they have
been lost, and make false claims: if he claim his goods and amount
of injury before God, even though he has not lost them, he shall
be fully compensated for all his loss claimed. (I.e., the oath is
all that is needed.)
127. If any one "point the finger" (slander) at a sister of a
god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall
be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked. (by
cutting the skin, or perhaps hair.)
128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse
with her, this woman is no wife to him.
129. If a man's wife be surprised (in flagrante delicto) with
another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the
husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.
130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of
another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her
father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man
shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless.
131. If a man bring a charge against one's wife, but she is not
surprised with another man, she must take an oath and then may
return to her house.
132. If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife about another
man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall
jump into the river for her husband.
133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is a
sustenance in his house, but his wife leave house and court, and
go to another house: because this wife did not keep her court, and
went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and
thrown into the water.
134. If any one be captured in war and there is not sustenance
in his house, if then his wife go to another house this woman
shall be held blameless.
135. If a man be taken prisoner in war and there be no
sustenance in his house and his wife go to another house and bear
children; and if later her husband return and come to his home:
then this wife shall return to her husband, but the children
follow their father.
136. If any one leave his house, run away, and then his wife go
to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife
back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this
runaway shall not return to her husband.
137. If a man wish to separate from a woman who has borne him
children, or from his wife who has borne him children: then he
shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of
field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children.
When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is
given to the children, equal as that of one son, shall be given to
her. She may then marry the man of her heart.
138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne
him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase
money and the dowry which she brought from her father's house, and
let her go.
139. If there was no purchase price he shall give her one mina
of gold as a gift of release.
140. If he be a freed man he shall give her one-third of a mina
of gold.
141. If a man's wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave
it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her
husband, and is judicially convicted: if her husband offer her
release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift
of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he
take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband's
house.
142. If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: "You are not
congenial to me," the reasons for her prejudice must be presented.
If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he
leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she
shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house.
143. If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins
her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into
the water.
144. If a man take a wife and this woman give her husband a
maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to
take another wife, this shall not be permitted to him; he shall
not take a second wife.
145. If a man take a wife, and she bear him no children, and he
intend to take another wife: if he take this second wife, and
bring her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed
equality with his wife.
146. If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant
as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume
equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her
master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a
slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants.
147. If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may
sell her for money.
148. If a man take a wife, and she be seized by disease, if he
then desire to take a second wife he shall not put away his wife,
who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the
house which he has built and support her so long as she lives.
149. If this woman does not wish to remain in her husband's
house, then he shall compensate her for the dowry that she brought
with her from her father's house, and she may go.
150. If a man give his wife a field, garden, and house and a
deed therefor, if then after the death of her husband the sons
raise no claim, then the mother may bequeath all to one of her
sons whom she prefers, and need leave nothing to his brothers.
151. If a woman who lived in a man's house made an agreement
with her husband, that no creditor can arrest her, and has given a
document therefor: if that man, before he married that woman, had
a debt, the creditor can not hold the woman for it. But if the
woman, before she entered the man's house, had contracted a debt,
her creditor can not arrest her husband therefor.
152. If after the woman had entered the man's house, both
contracted a debt, both must pay the merchant.
153. If the wife of one man on account of another man has their
mates (her husband and the other man's wife) murdered, both of
them shall be impaled.
154. If a man be guilty of incest with his daughter, he shall
be driven from the place (exiled).
155. If a man betroth a girl to his son, and his son have
intercourse with her, but he (the father) afterward defile her,
and be surprised, then he shall be bound and cast into the water
(drowned).
156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but his son has not
known her, and if then he defile her, he shall pay her half a gold
mina, and compensate her for all that she brought out of her
father's house. She may marry the man of her heart.
157. If any one be guilty of incest with his mother after his
father, both shall be burned.
158. If any one be surprised after his father with his chief
wife, who has borne children, he shall be driven out of his
father's house.
159. If any one, who has brought chattels into his
father-in-law's house, and has paid the purchase-money, looks for
another wife, and says to his father-in-law: "I do not want your
daughter," the girl's father may keep all that he had brought.
160. If a man bring chattels into the house of his
father-in-law, and pay the "purchase price" (for his wife): if
then the father of the girl say: "I will not give you my
daughter," he shall give him back all that he brought with him.
161. If a man bring chattels into his father-in-law's house and
pay the "purchase price," if then his friend slander him, and his
father-in-law say to the young husband: "You shall not marry my
daughter," the he shall give back to him undiminished all that he
had brought with him; but his wife shall not be married to the
friend.
162. If a man marry a woman, and she bear sons to him; if then
this woman die, then shall her father have no claim on her dowry;
this belongs to her sons.
163. If a man marry a woman and she bear him no sons; if then
this woman die, if the "purchase price" which he had paid into the
house of his father-in-law is repaid to him, her husband shall
have no claim upon the dowry of this woman; it belongs to her
father's house.
164. If his father-in-law do not pay back to him the amount of
the "purchase price" he may subtract the amount of the "Purchase
price" from the dowry, and then pay the remainder to her father's
house.
165. If a man give to one of his sons whom he prefers a field,
garden, and house, and a deed therefor: if later the father die,
and the brothers divide the estate, then they shall first give him
the present of his father, and he shall accept it; and the rest of
the paternal property shall they divide.
166. If a man take wives for his son, but take no wife for his
minor son, and if then he die: if the sons divide the estate, they
shall set aside besides his portion the money for the "purchase
price" for the minor brother who had taken no wife as yet, and
secure a wife for him.
167. If a man marry a wife and she bear him children: if this
wife die and he then take another wife and she bear him children:
if then the father die, the sons must not partition the estate
according to the mothers, they shall divide the dowries of their
mothers only in this way; the paternal estate they shall divide
equally with one another.
168. If a man wish to put his son out of his house, and declare
before the judge: "I want to put my son out," then the judge shall
examine into his reasons. If the son be guilty of no great fault,
for which he can be rightfully put out, the father shall not put
him out.
169. If he be guilty of a grave fault, which should rightfully
deprive him of the filial relationship, the father shall forgive
him the first time; but if he be guilty of a grave fault a second
time the father may deprive his son of all filial relation.
170. If his wife bear sons to a man, or his maid-servant have
borne sons, and the father while still living says to the children
whom his maid-servant has borne: "My sons," and he count them with
the sons of his wife; if then the father die, then the sons of the
wife and of the maid-servant shall divide the paternal property in
common. The son of the wife is to partition and choose.
171. If, however, the father while still living did not say to
the sons of the maid-servant: "My sons," and then the father dies,
then the sons of the maid-servant shall not share with the sons of
the wife, but the freedom of the maid and her sons shall be
granted. The sons of the wife shall have no right to enslave the
sons of the maid; the wife shall take her dowry (from her father),
and the gift that her husband gave her and deeded to her (separate
from dowry, or the purchase-money paid her father), and live in
the home of her husband: so long as she lives she shall use it, it
shall not be sold for money. Whatever she leaves shall belong to
her children.
172. If her husband made her no gift, she shall be compensated
for her gift, and she shall receive a portion from the estate of
her husband, equal to that of one child. If her sons oppress her,
to force her out of the house, the judge shall examine into the
matter, and if the sons are at fault the woman shall not leave her
husband's house. If the woman desire to leave the house, she must
leave to her sons the gift which her husband gave her, but she may
take the dowry of her father's house. Then she may marry the man
of her heart.
173. If this woman bear sons to her second husband, in the
place to which she went, and then die, her earlier and later sons
shall divide the dowry between them.
174. If she bear no sons to her second husband, the sons of her
first husband shall have the dowry.
175. If a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry the
daughter of a free man, and children are born, the master of the
slave shall have no right to enslave the children of the free.
176. If, however, a State slave or the slave of a freed man
marry a man's daughter, and after he marries her she bring a dowry
from a father's house, if then they both enjoy it and found a
household, and accumulate means, if then the slave die, then she
who was free born may take her dowry, and all that her husband and
she had earned; she shall divide them into two parts, one-half the
master for the slave shall take, and the other half shall the
free-born woman take for her children. If the free-born woman had
no gift she shall take all that her husband and she had earned and
divide it into two parts; and the master of the slave shall take
one-half and she shall take the other for her children.
177. If a widow, whose children are not grown, wishes to enter
another house (remarry), she shall not enter it without the
knowledge of the judge. If she enter another house the judge shall
examine the state of the house of her first husband. Then the
house of her first husband shall be entrusted to the second
husband and the woman herself as managers. And a record must be
made thereof. She shall keep the house in order, bring up the
children, and not sell the house-hold utensils. He who buys the
utensils of the children of a widow shall lose his money, and the
goods shall return to their owners.
178. If a "devoted woman" or a prostitute to whom her father
has given a dowry and a deed therefor, but if in this deed it is
not stated that she may bequeath it as she pleases, and has not
explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal; if then her
father die, then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and
give her corn, oil, and milk according to her portion, and satisfy
her. If her brothers do not give her corn, oil, and milk according
to her share, then her field and garden shall support her. She
shall have the usufruct of field and garden and all that her
father gave her so long as she lives, but she can not sell or
assign it to others. Her position of inheritance belongs to her
brothers.
179. If a "sister of a god," or a prostitute, receive a gift
from her father, and a deed in which it has been explicitly stated
that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give her complete
disposition thereof: if then her father die, then she may leave
her property to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers can raise no
claim thereto.
180. If a father give a present to his daughter -- either
marriageable or a prostitute (unmarriageable) -- and then die,
then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal
estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate
belongs to her brothers.
181. If a father devote a temple-maid or temple-virgin to God
and give her no present: if then the father die, she shall receive
the third of a child's portion from the inheritance of her
father's house, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her
estate belongs to her brothers.
182. If a father devote his daughter as a wife of Mardi of
Babylon (as in 181), and give her no present, nor a deed; if then
her father die, then shall she receive one-third of her portion as
a child of her father's house from her brothers, but Marduk may
leave her estate to whomsoever she wishes.
183. If a man give his daughter by a concubine a dowry, and a
husband, and a deed; if then her father die, she shall receive no
portion from the paternal estate.
184. If a man do not give a dowry to his daughter by a
concubine, and no husband; if then her father die, her brother
shall give her a dowry according to her father's wealth and secure
a husband for her.
185. If a man adopt a child and to his name as son, and rear
him, this grown son can not be demanded back again.
186. If a man adopt a son, and if after he has taken him he
injure his foster father and mother, then this adopted son shall
return to his father's house.
187. The son of a paramour in the palace service, or of a
prostitute, can not be demanded back.
188. If an artizan has undertaken to rear a child and teaches
him his craft, he can not be demanded back.
189. If he has not taught him his craft, this adopted son may
return to his father's house.
190. If a man does not maintain a child that he has adopted as
a son and reared with his other children, then his adopted son may
return to his father's house.
191. If a man, who had adopted a son and reared him, founded a
household, and had children, wish to put this adopted son out,
then this son shall not simply go his way. His adoptive father
shall give him of his wealth one-third of a child's portion, and
then he may go. He shall not give him of the field, garden, and
house.
192. If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive
father or mother: "You are not my father, or my mother," his
tongue shall be cut off.
193. If the son of a paramour or a prostitute desire his
father's house, and desert his adoptive father and adoptive
mother, and goes to his father's house, then shall his eye be put
out.
194. If a man give his child to a nurse and the child die in
her hands, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurse
another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed
another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and
her breasts shall be cut off.
195. If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be
put out.
197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.
198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of
a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.
199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone
of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.
200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall
be knocked out.
201. If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay
one-third of a gold mina.
202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than
he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born
man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.
204. If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he
shall pay ten shekels in money.
205. If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed
man, his ear shall be cut off.
206. If during a quarrel one man strike another and wound him,
then he shall swear, "I did not injure him wittingly," and pay the
physicians.
207. If the man die of his wound, he shall swear similarly, and
if he (the deceased) was a free-born man, he shall pay half a mina
in money.
208. If he was a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a mina.
209. If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her
unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
210. If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.
211. If a woman of the free class lose her child by a blow, he
shall pay five shekels in money.
212. If this woman die, he shall pay half a mina.
213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man, and she lose her
child, he shall pay two shekels in money.
214. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third of a
mina.
215. If a physician make a large incision with an operating
knife and cure it, or if he open a tumor (over the eye) with an
operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall receive ten shekels
in money.
216. If the patient be a freed man, he receives five shekels.
217. If he be the slave of some one, his owner shall give the
physician two shekels.
218. If a physician make a large incision with the operating
knife, and kill him, or open a tumor with the operating knife, and
cut out the eye, his hands shall be cut off.
219. If a physician make a large incision in the slave of a
freed man, and kill him, he shall replace the slave with another
slave.
220. If he had opened a tumor with the operating knife, and put
out his eye, he shall pay half his value.
221. If a physician heal the broken bone or diseased soft part
of a man, the patient shall pay the physician five shekels in
money.
222. If he were a freed man he shall pay three shekels.
223. If he were a slave his owner shall pay the physician two
shekels.
224. If a veterinary surgeon perform a serious operation on an
ass or an ox, and cure it, the owner shall pay the surgeon
one-sixth of a shekel as a fee.
225. If he perform a serious operation on an ass or ox, and
kill it, he shall pay the owner one-fourth of its value.
226. If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the
sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this
barber shall be cut off.
227. If any one deceive a barber, and have him mark a slave not
for sale with the sign of a slave, he shall be put to death, and
buried in his house. The barber shall swear: "I did not mark him
wittingly," and shall be guiltless.
228. If a builder build a house for some one and complete it,
he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of
surface.
229 If a builder build a house for some one, and does not
construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and
kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder
shall be put to death.
231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave
for slave to the owner of the house.
232. If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that
has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly
this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house
from his own means.
233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though he
has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the
builder must make the walls solid from his own means.
234. If a shipbuilder build a boat of sixty gur for a man, he
shall pay him a fee of two shekels in money.
235. If a shipbuilder build a boat for some one, and do not
make it tight, if during that same year that boat is sent away and
suffers injury, the shipbuilder shall take the boat apart and put
it together tight at his own expense. The tight boat he shall give
to the boat owner.
236. If a man rent his boat to a sailor, and the sailor is
careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor
shall give the owner of the boat another boat as compensation.
237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and provide it with
corn, clothing, oil and dates, and other things of the kind needed
for fitting it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is wrecked,
and its contents ruined, then the sailor shall compensate for the
boat which was wrecked and all in it that he ruined.
238. If a sailor wreck any one's ship, but saves it, he shall
pay the half of its value in money.
239. If a man hire a sailor, he shall pay him six gur of corn
per year.
240. If a merchantman run against a ferryboat, and wreck it,
the master of the ship that was wrecked shall seek justice before
God; the master of the merchantman, which wrecked the ferryboat,
must compensate the owner for the boat and all that he ruined.
241. If any one impresses an ox for forced labor, he shall pay
one-third of a mina in money.
242. If any one hire oxen for a year, he shall pay four gur of
corn for plow-oxen.
243. As rent of herd cattle he shall pay three gur of corn to
the owner.
244. If any one hire an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the
field, the loss is upon its owner.
245. If any one hire oxen, and kill them by bad treatment or
blows, he shall compensate the owner, oxen for oxen.
246. If a man hire an ox, and he break its leg or cut the
ligament of its neck, he shall compensate the owner with ox for
ox.
247. If any one hire an ox, and put out its eye, he shall pay
the owner one-half of its value.
248. If any one hire an ox, and break off a horn, or cut off
its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he shall pay one-fourth of its value
in money.
249. If any one hire an ox, and God strike it that it die, the
man who hired it shall swear by God and be considered guiltless.
250. If while an ox is passing on the street (market) some one
push it, and kill it, the owner can set up no claim in the suit
(against the hirer).
251. If an ox be a goring ox, and it shown that he is a gorer,
and he do not bind his horns, or fasten the ox up, and the ox gore
a free-born man and kill him, the owner shall pay one-half a mina
in money.
252. If he kill a man's slave, he shall pay one-third of a
mina.
253. If any one agree with another to tend his field, give him
seed, entrust a yoke of oxen to him, and bind him to cultivate the
field, if he steal the corn or plants, and take them for himself,
his hands shall be hewn off.
254. If he take the seed-corn for himself, and do not use the
yoke of oxen, he shall compensate him for the amount of the
seed-corn.
255. If he sublet the man's yoke of oxen or steal the
seed-corn, planting nothing in the field, he shall be convicted,
and for each one hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of corn.
256. If his community will not pay for him, then he shall be
placed in that field with the cattle (at work).
257. If any one hire a field laborer, he shall pay him eight
gur of corn per year.
258. If any one hire an ox-driver, he shall pay him six gur of
corn per year.
259. If any one steal a water-wheel from the field, he shall
pay five shekels in money to its owner.
260. If any one steal a shadduf (used to draw water from the
river or canal) or a plow, he shall pay three shekels in money.
261. If any one hire a herdsman for cattle or sheep, he shall
pay him eight gur of corn per annum.
262. If any one, a cow or a sheep ...
263. If he kill the cattle or sheep that were given to him, he
shall compensate the owner with cattle for cattle and sheep for
sheep.
264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been entrusted
for watching over, and who has received his wages as agreed upon,
and is satisfied, diminish the number of the cattle or sheep, or
make the increase by birth less, he shall make good the increase
or profit which was lost in the terms of settlement.
265. If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been
entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the
natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be
convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss.
266. If the animal be killed in the stable by God (an
accident), or if a lion kill it, the herdsman shall declare his
innocence before God, and the owner bears the accident in the
stable.
267. If the herdsman overlook something, and an accident happen
in the stable, then the herdsman is at fault for the accident
which he has caused in the stable, and he must compensate the
owner for the cattle or sheep.
268. If any one hire an ox for threshing, the amount of the
hire is twenty ka of corn.
269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire is twenty ka of
corn.
270. If he hire a young animal for threshing, the hire is ten
ka of corn.
271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he shall pay one
hundred and eighty ka of corn per day.
272. If any one hire a cart alone, he shall pay forty ka of
corn per day.
273. If any one hire a day laborer, he shall pay him from the
New Year until the fifth month (April to August, when days are
long and the work hard) six gerahs in money per day; from the
sixth month to the end of the year he shall give him five gerahs
per day.
274. If any one hire a skilled artizan, he shall pay as wages
of the ... five gerahs, as wages of the potter five gerahs, of a
tailor five gerahs, of ... gerahs, ... of a ropemaker four gerahs,
of ... gerahs, of a mason ... gerahs per day.
275. If any one hire a ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs in
money per day.
276. If he hire a freight-boat, he shall pay two and one-half
gerahs per day.
277. If any one hire a ship of sixty gur, he shall pay
one-sixth of a shekel in money as its hire per day.
278. If any one buy a male or female slave, and before a month
has elapsed the benu-disease be developed, he shall return the
slave to the seller, and receive the money which he had paid.
279. If any one by a male or female slave, and a third party
claim it, the seller is liable for the claim.
280. If while in a foreign country a man buy a male or female
slave belonging to another of his own country; if when he return
home the owner of the male or female slave recognize it: if the
male or female slave be a native of the country, he shall give
them back without any money.
281. If they are from another country, the buyer shall declare
the amount of money paid therefor to the merchant, and keep the
male or female slave.
282. If a slave say to his master: "You are not my master," if
they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.
The Epilogue
Laws of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established. A
righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurabi,
the protecting king am I. I have not withdrawn myself from the
men, whom Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk gave to me, I
was not negligent, but I made them a peaceful abiding-place. I
expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon
them. With the mighty weapons which Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to
me, with the keen vision with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom
that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted the enemy above and below (in
north and south), subdued the earth, brought prosperity to the
land, guaranteed security to the inhabitants in their homes; a
disturber was not permitted. The great gods have called me, I am
the salvation-bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good
shadow that is spread over my city; on my breast I cherish the
inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have
let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enclosed them.
That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the
widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the city where Anu and Bel
raise high their head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose foundations
stand firm as heaven and earth, in order to bespeak justice in the
land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set up these
my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, before the
image of me, as king of righteousness.
The king who ruleth among the kings of the cities am I. My
words are well considered; there is no wisdom like unto mine. By
the command of Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, let
righteousness go forth in the land: by the order of Marduk, my
lord, let no destruction befall my monument. In E-Sagil, which I
love, let my name be ever repeated; let the oppressed, who has a
case at law, come and stand before this my image as king of
righteousness; let him read the inscription, and understand my
precious words: the inscription will explain his case to him; he
will find out what is just, and his heart will be glad, so that he
will say:
"Hammurabi is a ruler, who is as a father to his subjects,
who holds the words of Marduk in reverence, who has achieved
conquest for Marduk over the north and south, who rejoices the
heart of Marduk, his lord, who has bestowed benefits for ever
and ever on his subjects, and has established order in the
land."
When he reads the record, let him pray with full heart to
Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady; and then shall the
protecting deities and the gods, who frequent E-Sagil, graciously
grant the desires daily presented before Marduk, my lord, and
Zarpanit, my lady.
In future time, through all coming generations, let the king,
who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness which I
have written on my monument; let him not alter the law of the land
which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; my monument
let him not mar. If such a ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep
his land in order, he shall observe the words which I have written
in this inscription; the rule, statute, and law of the land which
I have given; the decisions which I have made will this
inscription show him; let him rule his subjects accordingly, speak
justice to them, give right decisions, root out the miscreants and
criminals from this land, and grant prosperity to his subjects.
Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has
conferred right (or law) am I. My words are well considered; my
deeds are not equaled; to bring low those that were high; to
humble the proud, to expel insolence. If a succeeding ruler
considers my words, which I have written in this my inscription,
if he do not annul my law, nor corrupt my words, nor change my
monument, then may Shamash lengthen that king's reign, as he has
that of me, the king of righteousness, that he may reign in
righteousness over his subjects. If this ruler do not esteem my
words, which I have written in my inscription, if he despise my
curses, and fear not the curse of God, if he destroy the law which
I have given, corrupt my words, change my monument, efface my
name, write his name there, or on account of the curses commission
another so to do, that man, whether king or ruler, patesi, or
commoner, no matter what he be, may the great God (Anu), the
Father of the gods, who has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the
glory of royalty, break his scepter, curse his destiny. May Bel,
the lord, who fixeth destiny, whose command can not be altered,
who has made my kingdom great, order a rebellion which his hand
can not control; may he let the wind of the overthrow of his
habitation blow, may he ordain the years of his rule in groaning,
years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, death
with seeing eyes be fated to him; may he (Bel) order with his
potent mouth the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his
subjects, the cutting off of his rule, the removal of his name and
memory from the land. May Belit, the great Mother, whose command
is potent in E-Kur (the Babylonian Olympus), the Mistress, who
harkens graciously to my petitions, in the seat of judgment and
decision (where Bel fixes destiny), turn his affairs evil before
Bel, and put the devastation of his land, the destruction of his
subjects, the pouring out of his life like water into the mouth of
King Bel. May Ea, the great ruler, whose fated decrees come to
pass, the thinker of the gods, the omniscient, who maketh long the
days of my life, withdraw understanding and wisdom from him, lead
him to forgetfulness, shut up his rivers at their sources, and not
allow corn or sustenance for man to grow in his land. May Shamash,
the great Judge of heaven and earth, who supporteth all means of
livelihood, Lord of life-courage, shatter his dominion, annul his
law, destroy his way, make vain the march of his troops, send him
in his visions forecasts of the uprooting of the foundations of
his throne and of the destruction of his land. May the
condemnation of Shamash overtake him forthwith; may he be deprived
of water above among the living, and his spirit below in the
earth. May Sin (the Moon-god), the Lord of Heaven, the divine
father, whose crescent gives light among the gods, take away the
crown and regal throne from him; may he put upon him heavy guilt,
great decay, that nothing may be lower than he. May he destine him
as fated, days, months and years of dominion filled with sighing
and tears, increase of the burden of dominion, a life that is like
unto death. May Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of heaven
and earth, my helper, withhold from him rain from heaven, and the
flood of water from the springs, destroying his land by famine and
want; may he rage mightily over his city, and make his land into
flood-hills (heaps of ruined cities). May Zamama, the great
warrior, the first-born son of E-Kur, who goeth at my right hand,
shatter his weapons on the field of battle, turn day into night
for him, and let his foe triumph over him. May Ishtar, the goddess
of fighting and war, who unfetters my weapons, my gracious
protecting spirit, who loveth my dominion, curse his kingdom in
her angry heart; in her great wrath, change his grace into evil,
and shatter his weapons on the place of fighting and war. May she
create disorder and sedition for him, strike down his warriors,
that the earth may drink their blood, and throw down the piles of
corpses of his warriors on the field; may she not grant him a life
of mercy, deliver him into the hands of his enemies, and imprison
him in the land of his enemies. May Nergal, the might among the
gods, whose contest is irresistible, who grants me victory, in his
great might burn up his subjects like a slender reedstalk, cut off
his limbs with his mighty weapons, and shatter him like an earthen
image. May Nin-tu, the sublime mistress of the lands, the fruitful
mother, deny him a son, vouchsafe him no name, give him no
successor among men. May Nin-karak, the daughter of Anu, who
adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon his members in E-kur high
fever, severe wounds, that can not be healed, whose nature the
physician does not understand, which he can not treat with
dressing, which, like the bite of death, can not be removed, until
they have sapped away his life. May he lament the loss of his
life-power, and may the great gods of heaven and earth, the
Anunaki, altogether inflict a curse and evil upon the confines of
the temple, the walls of this E-barra (the Sun temple of Sippara),
upon his dominion, his land, his warriors, his subjects, and his
troops. May Bel curse him with the potent curses of his mouth that
can not be altered, and may they come upon him forthwith.
Source:
http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm
