189. If he has not taught him his handicraft, that foster-child231 may return to his father's house.

190. If a man has not reckoned with his sons a young child which he has adopted and brought up, that foster-child may return to the house of his father.

191. If a man who has adopted a child and brought him up, has built a dwelling, (and) after he has children (of his own) set [pg 509] his face to cut off the foster-child, that child shall not go his way. His foster-father shall give him one-third of his property as his inheritance and (then) he shall go. He shall give him nothing of the field, plantation, and house.

192. If the son of a favourite or the son of a public woman say to his foster-father and his foster-mother, “Thou art not my father, thou art not my mother,” they shall cut out his tongue.232

193. If the child of a favourite or the child of a public woman come to know his father's house, and despise his foster-father and his foster-mother, and go to his father's house, they shall tear out his eyes.233

194. If a man has given his child to a nurse, and that child has died in the hands of the nurse, and the nurse, without [his] father and his mother, rear another child, they shall summon her, and as she has rear[ed] another child without [his] father and mother, they shall cut off her breasts.

195. If a son smite his father, they shall cut off his hands.

196. If a man has destroyed the eye of the son of a man, they shall destroy his eye.

197. If he has broken the limb of a man, they shall break his limb.

198. If he has destroyed the eye of a poor man, or broken the limb of a poor man, he shall pay one mana of silver.

199. If he has destroyed the eye of a man's slave, or broken the limb of a man's slave, he shall pay half his value.234

200. If a man has knocked out the teeth of a man of his rank, they shall knock out his teeth.

201. If he has knocked out the teeth of a poor man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

202. If a man has struck the head235 of a man who is greater than he, he shall be struck in the assembly sixty times with an ox-hide whip.

203. If the son of a man236 has struck the head of the son of a man who is like himself, he shall pay one mana of silver.

204. If a poor man has struck the head of a poor man, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.

205. If the slave of a man has struck the head of the son of a man, they shall cut off his ear.

206. If a man has struck a man in a quarrel, and do him hurt, [pg 510] that man shall swear: “I did not strike him knowingly,” and he shall be responsible for the physician.

207. If he die of his blows, he shall swear (the same). If (it was) the son of a man, he shall pay one-half a mana of silver.

208. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

209. If a man has struck the daughter of a man, and caused what was within her to fall from her, he shall pay ten shekels of silver for what was within her.

210. If that woman die, they shall kill his daughter.

211. If by blows he has made what was within the daughter of a poor man to fall from her, he shall pay five shekels of silver.

212. If that woman die, he shall pay one-half a mana of silver.

213. If he has struck a man's slave-woman and made that which was within her fall from her, he shall pay two shekels of silver.

214. If that slave-woman die, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

215. If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and cured the man, or opened the cataract of a man with a bronze lancet, and cured the eye of the man, he shall receive ten shekels of silver.

216. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall receive five shekels of silver.

217. If it was a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall pay to the physician two shekels of silver.

218. If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and caused the man to die, or opened the cataract of a man with a bronze lancet, and destroyed the eye of a man, they shall cut off his hands.

219. If a physician has treated a poor man's slave for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and has caused (him) to die, he shall make good slave for slave.237

220. If he has opened his cataract with a bronze lancet, and destroyed his eye, he shall pay half his value in silver.238

221. If a physician has made sound the broken limb of a man, or saved a diseased part, the patient239 shall pay to the physician five shekels of silver.

222. If it be the son of a poor man, he shall pay three shekels of silver.

223. If it was a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall pay to the physician two shekels of silver.

[pg 511]

224. If an ox-doctor or an ass-doctor has treated an ox or an ass for a grave injury, and has saved (it), the owner of the ox or the ass shall pay to the physician one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver (as) his hire.

225. If he has treated the ox or the ass for a grave injury, and caused (it) to die, he shall give to the owner of the ox or the ass a quarter of its price.

226. If a barber, without the (knowledge of the) owner of a slave, has marked an inalienable slave with a mark, they shall cut off the hands of that barber.240

227. If a man has deceived a barber, and he has marked an inalienable slave with a mark, they shall kill that man, and bury him in his house; the barber shall swear: “I did not mark knowingly,” and shall go free.

228. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has finished it (well), for a house of one šar, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his pay.

229. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not done his work strongly, and the house he has made has fallen down, and killed the owner of the house, that builder shall be killed.

230. If it cause the son of the owner of the house to die, they shall kill the son of that builder.

231. If it cause the slave of the owner of the house to die, he shall give to the owner of the house a slave like (his) slave.

232. If it has destroyed the property, whatever it has destroyed, he shall make good. And as he did not make strong the house he constructed, and it fell, from his own property he shall rebuild the house which fell.

233. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not caused his work to be firm, and the wall has fallen over, that builder shall strengthen that wall with his own money.

234. If a boatman has calked a vessel of 60 gur (burthen) for a man, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his pay.

235. If a boatman has calked a vessel for a man, and has not perfected his work, and in that (same) year that vessel sail, (if) it have a defect, the boatman shall alter that vessel, and repair (it) with his own capital, and give the repaired vessel to the owner of the vessel.241

236. If a man has given his vessel to a boatman for hire, and the boatman has been neglectful, and sunk or lost the vessel, the boatman shall replace the vessel to the owner of the vessel.

[pg 512]

237. If a man has hired a boatman and a vessel, and has freighted it with wheat, wool, oil, dates, and any other kind of freight; (if) that boatman be neglectful, and sink the vessel, and lose what is within (it), the boatman shall replace the vessel which he has sunk, and whatever he lost, which was within it.

238. If a boatman has sunk a man's vessel, and refloated it, he shall pay half its value242 in silver.

239. If a man [has hired] a boatman, he shall give him 6 gur of wheat yearly.

240. If a down-stream vessel collide with an up-stream vessel, and sink (it), the owner of the sunken vessel shall declare before God whatever has been lost in his vessel, and (he) of the down-stream vessel which sank the up-stream vessel shall replace for him his vessel and whatever was lost.

241. If a man has driven the ox (of another) to work, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

242 and 243. If a man has hired for a year, (as) hire of a draught-ox he shall pay to its owner 4 gur of wheat. (As) hire of a carrier(?)-ox, 3 gur of wheat.

244. If a man has hired an ox (or) an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, (the loss) is its owner's.

245. If a man has hired an ox, and cause it to die by negligence or by blows, to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.243

246. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its foot or cut its nape,244 to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.

247. If a man has hired an ox, and has poked out its eye, he shall pay to the ox's owner half its value in silver.

248. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its horn, cut off its tail, or pierced245 its nostril, he shall pay a quarter of its value in silver.

249. If a man has hired an ox, and God has stricken it and it has died, the man who hired the ox shall swear by God,246 and shall go free.

250. If a mad bull, in its onset, has gored a man, and caused (him) to die, that case has no claim.247

251. If a man's ox—goring for goring—has made known to him its vice,248 and he has not sawn off its horns, (if) he has not shut up his ox, and that ox has gored the son of a man, and caused him to die, he shall pay half a mana of silver.

[pg 513]

252. [If] it be a man's servant, he shall give one-third of a mana of silver.

253. If a man has hired a man to stay upon his field, and [ha]nded to him the produce (?), confided to him the oxen, [and] contracted with him [to] cultivate the field, if that man has stolen the wheat or the vegetables, and it is found in his hands, they shall cut off his hands.

254. If he has taken away the produce and deprived249 the oxen, he shall replace the amount of the wheat which he has wasted (?).

255. If he has let out250 the oxen of a man for hire, or stolen the wheat, and not made (it) to grow in the field, they shall summon that man, and for every 10 bur-gan he shall measure 60 gur of wheat.

256. If his borough cannot respond for him, they shall leave him in that field with the oxen.

257. If a man has hired a field-labourer, he shall give him 8 gur of wheat yearly.

258. If a man has hired an ox-herd (?), he shall give him 6 gur of wheat yearly.

259. If a man has stolen a watering-machine from the enclosure, he shall give to the owner of the watering-machine five shekels of silver.

260. If he has stolen a shadoof or a plough, he shall give three shekels of silver.

261. If a man has hired a herdsman to pasture oxen and sheep, he shall give him 8 gur of wheat yearly.

262. If a man an ox or sheep for....

263. ... If he has lost [an ox] or a sheep which has been given to [him], he shall restore to [their] owner, ox for [ox], sheep for [sheep].

264. If a [herdsman], to whom oxen or sheep have been given to pasture, has received his wages, everything (?) as agreed (?), and is satisfied,251 has reduced the oxen, (or) reduced the sheep, (or) lessened (their) young, he shall give (back) young and increase according to his contracts.

265. If a herdsman, to whom oxen and sheep have been given to pasture, has acted wrongly, and changed the natural increase,252 and has given (it) for silver, they shall summon him, and ten times what he has stolen, oxen and sheep, he shall make good to their owner.

266. If in the fold an act of God has taken place, or a lion has killed, the herdsman shall declare his innocence before God, and the owner of the fold shall meet the destruction of the fold.

[pg 514]

267. If the herdsman has been in fault, and has caused damage in the fold, the herdsman shall make up the loss caused by253 the damage which he has brought about in the fold, (both) oxen and sheep, and shall give (them) to their owner.

268. If a man has hired an ox for treading out (the corn), 20 qa of wheat is his hire.

269. If he has hired an ass for treading out (the corn), 10 qa of wheat is his hire.

270. If he has hired a young animal for treading out (the corn), 1 qa of wheat is his hire.

271. If a man has hired oxen, a cart, and its driver, he shall give 180 qa of wheat daily.

272. If a man has hired the cart by itself, he shall give 40 qa of wheat daily.

273. If a man has hired a workman, from the beginning of the year to the fifth month he shall give six grains254 of silver daily; from the sixth month to the end of the year, he shall give five grains of silver daily.

274. If a man hire an artizan, (as) wages of a ... five [grains] of silver; (as) wages of a brickmaker (?)255 five grains of silver; (as) wages of a linen-weaver256 five grains of silver; (as) wages of a stone-worker(?)257 ... grains of silver; (as) wages of a milkman (?) ... [grains] of silver; (as) [wages] of a ... ... [grains] of silver; (as) [wages] of a carpenter four grains of silver; (as) wages of a ... four grains of silver; (as) [wages] of a house-superintendent (?) ... grains of silver; (as) [wages] of a builder (?), ... grains of silver. [dai]ly [he shall g]ive.

275. [If] a man has hired a small boat (?), three grains of silver is its hire daily.

[pg 515]

276. If he has hired a down-stream (vessel), he shall give two grains and a half of silver (as) its hire daily.

277. If a man has hired a vessel of 60 gur, he shall give one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver daily (as) its hire.

278. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and before he has fulfilled his month an infirmity has fallen upon him, he shall return him to his seller, and the buyer shall receive back the silver he has paid.

279. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and he is liable to be reclaimed,258 his seller shall respond to the claim.259

280. If a man, in a foreign country, has bought a male (or) female slave of a man, (and) when they have arrived in the midst of the land, a (former) owner of the male or female slave recognize his male or female slave, if their male and female slave are children of the land, he shall set them free without payment.260

281. If they are children of another land, the buyer shall declare before God the money261 he has paid, and the (former) owner of the male or female slave shall give to the agent the money he has paid, and shall recover his male or female slave.

282. If a slave has said to his master: “Thou art not my master,” he shall summon him as his slave, and his master shall cut off his ear.

Decrees of equity, which Ḫammurabi, the able king, has established, and has procured (for) the country lasting security and a happy rule. Ḫammurabi, the accomplished king, am I. For the head-dark (ones),262 whom Bel assigned, (and whose) shepherding Merodach has given, I have not been neglectful, I have not relaxed—peaceful localities have I found for them,263 I have opened the narrow defiles, light have I caused to go forth to them. With the powerful weapon which Zagaga and Ištar have conferred upon me, with the acuteness which Aê has bestowed, with the might which Merodach has bestowed, I have rooted out the enemy above and below.264 I have dominated the depths,265 I have made happy the flesh of the land, the people of the dwellings (therein) have I caused to lie down in security—fear caused I not to possess them. The great gods have elected266 me, and I am the shepherd giving peace, whose sceptre is just, setting up my good shadow in my city. I have pressed the people of the land of Šumer and Akkad in my [pg 516] bosom; by my protective spirit fraternally (?) have I guided them in peace; in my wisdom have I protected them. For the strong not to oppress the weak, to direct the fatherless (and) the widow, I have raised its267 head in Babylon, the city of God and Bel. In Ê-sagila, the house whose foundations are firm like heaven and earth, I have written on my monument my most precious words to judge the justice of the land, to decide the decisions of the land, to direct the ignorant; and I have placed (them) before my image as king of righteousness.

The king who is great among the city-king(s) am I; my words are renowned, my power has no equal; by the command of Šamaš, the great judge of heaven and earth, may righteousness have power in the land;268 by the word of Merodach, my lord, may my bas-reliefs not have a destroyer; in Ê-sagila, which I love, may my name be commemorated in happiness for ever. The ignorant man, who has a complaint,269 let him come before my image (as) king of righteousness, and let him read my inscribed monument and let him hear my precious words, and my monument explain to him the matter. Let him see his judgment, let his heart expand, (saying): “Ḫammurabi is a lord who is like a father, a parent to the people; he has caused the word of Merodach, his lord, to be reverenced, and has gained the victory for Merodach above and below. He has rejoiced the heart of Merodach, his lord, and fixed for the people happiness270 for ever, and (well) has he governed the land.” Let him pronounce (it) aloud, and with his heart perfect, let him pray before Merodach, my lord, (and) Zērpanitum, my lady. May the winged bull, (and) the protecting spirit, the gods of the entrance of Ê-sagila, (and) the wall of Ê-sagila, daily further (his) desires271 in the presence of Merodach, my lord, and Zērpanitum, my lady.

For the future, the course272 of days for all time: May the king who is in the land protect the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument. Let him not change the law of the land which I have adjudged, the decisions of the country which I have decided; let him not cause my bas-relief to be destroyed. If that man have intelligence, and wish to govern his country well, let him pay attention to the words which I have written on my monument, and may this monument show him the path, the direction, the law of the land which I have pronounced, the decisions of the land which I have decided. [pg 517] And let him rule his people,273 let him pronounce justice for them, let him decide their decision. Let him remove the evil and the wicked from his land, let him rejoice the flesh of his people.

Ḫammurabi, the king of righteousness, to whom Šamaš has given (these) enactments,274 am I. My words are noble, my works have no equal—they have brought forth the proud (?) to humility (?) the humble (?) to wisdom (?) (and) to renown. If that man275 is attentive to my words, which I have written on my monument, and set not aside my law, change not my word, alter not my bas-relief—that man like me, the king of righteousness, may the god Šamaš make his sceptre to endure, may he guide his people in righteousness. If that man regard not my words, which I have written on my monument, and despise my curse, and fear not the curse of God, and do away the law which I have ordained—(if) he change my word, alter my bas-relief, destroy my written name, and write his (own) name, (or) on account of these curses cause another to do so,276 that man, whether king, or lord, or viceroy, or personage who has been elected,277 may the great God, the father of the gods, proclaimer of my reign, take back from him the glory of my kingdom, break his sceptre, curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord who determines the destinies, whose command is unchangeable, he who has magnified my kingdom, rouse against him revolts which his hand cannot suppress, causing (?) his destruction upon his seat.278 A reign of sighing, days (but) few, years of want, darkness without light, death the vision of (his) eyes, may they set for him as (his) destiny. May he decree with his grave lips the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his people, the taking away of his royalty, the annihilation of his name and his record in the land. May Beltis, the great mother whose command is supreme279 in E-kura, the lady who makes my thoughts propitious, instead of judgment and decision, make his word evil before Bel, may she accomplish the ruin of his country, the loss of his people, the pouring out of his life like water by the command of Bel the king. May Aê, the great prince, whose decisions have the precedence,280 the sage of the gods, he who knows everything, who lengthens the days of my life, take back from him understanding281 and wisdom, bring him back into forgetfulness.282 May he dam up his rivers at (their) sources, (and) cause grain, the life of the people, not to exist in his land. May Šamaš, the [pg 518] great judge of heaven and earth, he who rules living things, the lord my trust, destroy his dominion; may he not pronounce his judgment, may he confuse his path, may he annihilate the course of his army. May he place for him, in his oracles,283 an evil design to snatch away the foundation of his dominion and to destroy his country. May Šamaš's word of misfortune speedily attack him; may he snatch him from the living on high, beneath in the earth may he deprive his spirit284 of water. May Sin, lord of the heavens, the god my creator, whose brightness285 shines resplendent among the gods, withdraw from him crown and throne of dominion. May he fix upon him a grave misdeed, his great fault, which will not disappear from his body, and may he cause the days, the months, the years of his reign to end in sighing and tears. May he increase for him the burthen of his dominion, may he fix for him as (his) fate a life which is comparable286 with death. May Hadad, lord of fertility, dominator of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold from him the rains in the heavens, the flood in the springs. May he destroy his country with want and famine, may he angrily rage over his city, and turn his country to mounds of the flood.287 May Zagaga, the great warrior, the eldest son of (the temple) Ê-kura, he who goes at my right hand, break his weapons on the battle-field. May he turn for him day into night, and may he set his enemy over him. May Ištar, lady of war and battle, who lets loose my weapons, my propitious genius, lover of my reign, in her angry heart, in her great wrath, curse his dominion, his favours into evils may she turn, may she turn.288 In the place of war and battles may she break his weapons, may she make for him confusion and revolt, may she cast down his warriors, may she cause the earth to drink their blood, may she cast down in the plain a heap of corpses of his warriors, may she not cause his soldiers to have [burial?]. As for him, may she deliver him into the hand of his enemy, and bring him as a captive to the land which is hostile to him. May Nergal, the strong one among the gods, unrivalled battle,289 he who causes me to attain my victory, in his great might burn290 his people like [pg 519] a tiny bundle of reeds. With his strong weapon may he subjugate him, and may he crush his members like an image of clay. May Nintu, the supreme lady of the lands, the mother my creator, withhold from him his son, and cause him to have no name, in the midst of his people may she not produce a human seed. May Nin-Karrak, daughter of Anu, she who announces my happiness, let forth from Ê-kura upon his members a grave sickness, an evil pestilence, a grievous injury, which they cannot cure, whose nature the physician does not know, which he cannot ease with a bandage, (and which), like the bite of death, cannot be removed. Until she take possession of his life, may he groan for his manliness.291

May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunna292 in their assembly, the divine bull of the house,293 the bricks of Ê-babbara,294 curse that (man), his reign, his country, his army, his people, and his nation, with a deadly curse—with powerful curses may Bel, by his word which cannot be changed, curse him, and speedily may they overtake him.