Chapter XXIV: Appendix: The Stele Inscribed with the Laws of ḫammurabi (2)

179. If a devotee or a public woman, to whom her father has presented a gift, (and) has written for her a sealed tablet, (and) on the tablet which he has written for her has written for her (concerning) the giving of what she should leave to whomsoever she pleased, and has let her follow the desire of her heart, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall give what she leaves to whomsoever she pleases—her brothers have no claim upon her.

180. If a father has not presented a gift(223) to his daughter, who is a recluse or a public woman, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall take a share in the property of the father’s house like a son, and enjoy (it) as long as she lives. What she leaves belongs to her brothers.

181. If a father has brought to a god a hierodule or a virgin, and has not presented to her a gift,(224) after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall share in the property of the father’s house a third (as) her inheritance, and she shall enjoy (it) as long as she lives. What she leaves belongs to her brothers.

182. If a father has not presented a gift to his daughter, priestess of Merodach of Babylon, (and) has not written for her a sealed tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall share, with her brothers, in the property of the father’s house a third part (as) her inheritance, and she shall not carry on its administration. The priestess of Merodach may give what she leaves to whomsoever she pleases.

183. If a father has presented a marriage-gift to his concubine-daughter, given her to a husband, (and) written for her a sealed tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall not share in the property of the father’s house.(225)

184. If a man has not presented to his concubine-daughter a marriage-gift, (and) has not given her to a husband, after the father has gone to (his) fate, her brothers shall give her a wedding-gift according to the amount (of the property) of the father’s house, and shall give her to a husband.

185. If a man has adopted(226) a child by its name,(227) and has brought it up, that foster-child cannot be claimed back.

186. If a man has adopted a child, and when he had adopted him, he rebelled against his (foster-)father and his (foster-)mother, that foster-child shall return to his father’s house.

187. The son of a favourite attending the palace, and the son of a public woman, cannot be claimed back.(228)

188. If an artizan(229) has taken a child to bring up,(230) and has taught him his handicraft, he cannot be claimed back.

189. If he has not taught him his handicraft, that foster-child(231) 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 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 head(235) 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 man(236) 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, 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 patient(239) 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.

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.

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 value(242) 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 pierced(245) 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.

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 deprived(249) the oxen, he shall replace the amount of the wheat which he has wasted (?).

255. If he has let out(250) 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.

267. If the herdsman has been in fault, and has caused damage in the fold, the herdsman shall make up the loss caused by(253) 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 grains(254) 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-weaver(256) 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.

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 money(261) 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 elected(266) 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 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 its(267) 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 happiness(270) 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) desires(271) in the presence of Merodach, my lord, and Zērpanitum, my lady.

For the future, the course(272) 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. 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 man(275) 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 supreme(279) 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 understanding(281) 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 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 spirit(284) of water. May Sin, lord of the heavens, the god my creator, whose brightness(285) 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 comparable(286) 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 burn(290) his people like 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 Anunna(292) 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.

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These laws, as being the oldest known, have attracted considerable attention, and much has been said concerning their connection with the Mosaic Code. Whatever connection there may be between them, however, it must be kept well in mind, that they have been formulated and compiled from totally different standpoints. Notwithstanding the references in the Code of Ḫammurabi to religious things, there is no doubt that the laws given therein are purely civil, and compiled either by the king as temporal ruler of the land, or by his advisers, or by the judges who “decided the decisions of the land.” Charitable enactments were therefore as far from the intention of the compilers of the Babylonian code as such things are from the intention of the legislation of this or any other modern civilized community or nationality. The Law of Moses, on the other hand, has long been recognized as a Priestly Code, into which all kinds of provisions for the poor, the fatherless, the necessitous, were likely to enter, and have, in fact, entered. From this point of view, Moses’ code is immeasurably superior to that of the Babylonian law-giver, and can hardly, on that account, be compared with it.

From existing duplicates of this inscription, we know that it bore a title which, in accordance with the usual custom in ancient times, was taken from the first few words of the inscription, in this case _Ninu îlu ṣîrum_, “When the supreme God.” In the Ninevite duplicate in the British Museum, however, a kind of title in the modern sense of the word is given, namely, _Dinani Ḫammurabi_, “The Laws of Ḫammurabi,” the first word being from the common Semitic root which appears, in Semitic Babylonian, under the form of _dânu_, “to judge.” As far as our information goes, it would seem that, whilst the Hebrew _tôrah_ was both judicial, ceremonial, and moral, the Babylonian _dînu_ was judicial only. Ceremonial enactments are entirely foreign to it, and morality, in the modern sense of the word, though represented, does not hold a very high place, though it must not be forgotten that five columns of the text are wanting.

That there should be, therefore, but few parallels between the Codes of Moses and of Ḫammurabi was to be expected, though naturally likenesses and parallelisms are to be found, the Hebrews being practically of the same stock as the Babylonians, and also, as has been shown, under the influence of the same civilization. It will be noticed, in reading through the code, that not only are there no laws against sorcery, worshipping other than the national god or gods, and prostitution, but there are actually enactments referring to the first and the last, showing that they were recognized. Moral, religious, ceremonial, and philanthropic enactments are, in fact, entirely absent.

3-4. With the enactments concerning false witness, cp. Ex. xx. 16; Deut. v. 20, etc. More especially, however, are the directions in Deut. xix. 16 ff. noteworthy. Here the direction is, to do to the false witness “as he had thought to do to his brother.” In this case, too, the logical penalty would be death, in a matter involving the life of a man.

7 (liability to be regarded as a thief on account of the purchase or receiving of things without witnesses or a contract) is to a certain extent paralleled by Lev. vi. 2 ff., where, however, the penalty for wrongful possession is not death, but the restoration of the object detained, with a fifth part of the value added thereto.

8 (theft of live-stock) is illustrated by Ex. xxii. 1, where it is ordered that the thief restore five oxen for a stolen ox, and four sheep for a stolen sheep. All laws dealing with theft seem to have been more severe among the Babylonians than among the Hebrews, and inability to make the object good, with the penalties attached thereto, was visited with death (6-11, 14, 15, etc.).

14. This enactment is exactly parallel with Ex. xxi. 16: “He that stealeth a man ... shall surely be put to death.”

21 (housebreaking). Ex. xxii. 2-4, justifies the killing of a burglar caught in the act before sunrise, but not otherwise.

57. In the case of unlawful pasturing, it is probable that Ex. xxii. 5 may furnish the key to the obscurities of this Babylonian enactment. According to the Mosaic law, the owner of the cattle had to make the damage good with the best of his field or vineyard. To ensure getting the best, and his due share, the most satisfactory way would be to reap the offender’s field, if he had one.

110. The opening (seemingly in the English sense) of a wine-house by a temple-devotee, or her merely entering such a place, was in all probability equivalent to prostituting herself, and if so, this law may be compared with Lev. xxi. 9, in which the daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself (and her father) by playing the whore, was to be put to death by burning.

117. As is shown by the preceding enactments, the person of a man might be seized for debt, but this shows that he might allow his wife, his son, or his daughter to be taken to work it off, and in that case they were to be set free in the fourth year. In Hebrew law (Ex. xxi. 2) an ordinary purchased slave was free after six years’ service, but if a man sold his daughter (v. 7), she did not “go out as the men-servants do.”(295)

125. The theft of things on deposit entailed only restitution if the person with whom they were deposited were not in fault. In Ex. xxii. 7-9 the person condemned had to pay or restore double the value of the things stolen.

129. In this law the conditional clause at the end is incomplete, but it may be supposed that liberty was accorded therein to the king and to the injured husband to exercise mercy, and commute the death-penalty in any way they thought fit, attaching thereto any other penalty which might seem good to them. According to Lev. xx. 10, the adulterer and the adulteress were to be put to death, but in what manner is not stated. To all appearance no mercy was given.

130. As this is a case of a married woman living in her father’s house, Ex. xxii. 16 is not an exact parallel. The woman being unbetrothed, the man who had violated her had to endow and marry her.

155. Incest of the nature referred to here is practically a complete parallel with Lev. xx. 12, where, however, the nature of the death-penalty is not stated. If the correction of the code of Ḫammurabi suggested in the footnote (“they shall bind that man, and cast _him_ into the water”) be the true one, the man would seem to have been regarded as the chief sinner, and the woman was probably left to be dealt with by the son’s family. The mere binding of the man, as in the text, would be no adequate punishment, and the correction: “They shall bind _them_, and cast _them_ into the water,” pre-supposes a very serious mistake on the part of the scribe.

157. This is a parallel with Lev. xviii. 8, and xx. 11, and the penalty is death in both codes. The word “mother” in the Babylonian Code probably includes “step-mother” as well.

195. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 15, where, however, the smiting of the mother is included, and the more severe penalty of death is prescribed, instead of merely cutting off the offending members as a punishment.

196, 197, 200, 210. These illustrate the dictum: “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for tooth” (Ex. xxi. 24, 25; Lev. xxiv. 20; Deut. xix. 21; Matt. v. 38). They were naturally the common punishments of the period when the penalty of imprisonment could not be imposed.

199. The destruction of the eye of a man’s slave, or the fracture of his limb, was apparently held to entail the diminution of his value by one-half, which the person who inflicted the injury had to pay. Nothing is said, however, concerning injury to a slave by his master, and this law, therefore, has no parallel in the Mosaic ordinance given in Ex. xxi. 26, 27, where the master is spoken of as the possible aggressor, and had to set his slave free on account of the injury he had received.(296)

206. The law regarding injuries inflicted upon a man in a quarrel is parallel with Ex. xxi. 18, 19, except that the latter decrees that the person inflicting the injury, in addition to causing the injured man to be completely healed, has also to pay for his loss of time. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that, in the Code of Ḫammurabi, he who committed the injury had to swear that he did not do it knowingly—that is, with the intention of injuring the man, otherwise he probably came under the law of retaliation, Nos. 196, 197, and 200.

209. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 22, but whereas the penalty for the injury to the woman was fixed at ten shekels of silver, the law of Moses allowed the husband to estimate the compensation, which was certified and probably revised by the judges.

210. It was not only “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” but also “a daughter for a daughter,” even when a mortal injury may not have been intended. This is practically the same as Ex. xxi. 23: “And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life.”

241. As this law stands, it refers to the unlawful working of another man’s ox, and not to an ox taken in pledge, for the working of which there could be no remedy, any more than there was for taking a man’s wife, child, or slave, in pledge to work out a debt.

244 (loss of an animal through attack by a wild beast). Compare Ex. xxii. 13: “If it (an animal delivered into the care of another) be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.” Apparently there was no obligation to place the animal in a safe place. Cf. Gen. xxxi. 39 (Jacob’s reproof to Laban): “That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it.”

245 ff. These are to a certain extent illustrated by Ex. xxii. 14, 15, in which passage, if the owner of the injured animal was not present, the borrower had to make good any loss. If, however, the owner was there to protect it, there was no penalty, as he could in all probability have prevented the injury from being inflicted, and in any case might be supposed to have control over the animal.

250. The owner of a furious bull was protected from loss, even though the result was fatal, if he did not know that the animal was vicious. In Ex. xxi. 28, though the owner of the offending ox was to go free, the animal itself was to be stoned to death, and its flesh not eaten. There is no doubt that this was hard on the owner, but it must have had an excellent effect, and ensured the proper enclosing of all doubtful animals.

251. Even when the master knew that his ox was vicious, the Babylonians were more lenient than the Hebrews, who, in such a case, besides the destruction of the ox, decreed the death of the owner as a punishment for his negligence (Ex. xxi. 29). As will be seen from verse 30, however, he might be spared by paying such ransom as might be imposed upon him.

252. One-third of a mana of silver is equivalent to 20 shekels, so that the sum here indicated as compensation for the death of a slave who has been gored by a bull differs from that awarded in Ex. xxi. 32, by ten shekels—one-sixth of a mana more.

266. This is in part covered by 244 (destruction of cattle by a lion), and is parallel with Ex. xxii. 10, 11, where, also, an oath had to be sworn between the parties, and the herdsman in whose care the cattle were, went free of all obligation. The accident causing the loss, however, is not there described as “an act of God.”

267. The wording of this law clearly indicates that it would apply if the herdsman were in fault, and suggests that the same condition must be read into Ex. xxii. 12, where, if the cattle were stolen from him, he had to make the loss good.

Besides the enactments in the Code of Moses, however, we find, in the interesting and important monument translated above, and in the legal documents of the period to which it belongs, noteworthy parallels to other parts of the Old Testament. Reference has already been made (pp. 174, 175, and 185, 186) to the contracts of the period of Ḫammurabi’s dynasty which illustrate the matter of Sarah giving Hagar to Abraham because she herself was childless (Gen. xvi. 1, 2). That this was the custom in Babylonia is now confirmed by law 144, which also furnishes the reason why it was the wife who chose her partner in the husband’s affections. It was because the first wife preferred to choose herself the woman who was to replace her, and in doing this, she chose one who would be her subordinate, not one who might become a really serious rival. A parallel case is that of Bilhah (Gen. xxx. 4). Hagar’s despising her mistress (Gen. xvi. 4) is illustrated by law No. 146, which allows the mistress to reduce her to the position of a slave again, which was agreed to by the patriarch, the result being that Hagar fled (v. 6).

The determination to have the possession of the cave of Machpelah placed upon a thoroughly legal footing (Gen. xxiii. 14-20) may, perhaps, be illustrated by law No. 7, though there is not much parallelism between the two instances, a field with a cave and trees being a difficult thing to steal. There is hardly any doubt, however, that the patriarch desired that no accusation should be brought against him or his descendants for unlawfully using it, as is suggested by the fact that when Ephron offered to give it, he said that he did so “in the presence of the sons of my people” only, but when the transaction was completed as Abraham wished, it was done not only in the presence of the children of Heth, but before all who went in at the gate of his city (Gen. xxiii. 18), and naturally included strangers as well.

Abraham’s seeking a wife for his son (Gen. xxiv. 4) is in conformity with laws 155, 156, and 166; gifts are given (Gen. xxiv. 53 and laws No. 159, 160, etc.); seemingly the father-in-law retained the presents given by his son-in-law, if he could get possession of them (Gen. xxxi. 15 and laws 159-161), and these belonged to the wife (wives) and the children (xxxi. 16 and laws 162, 167, 171, ff.).

Whether the theft of her father’s teraphim by Rachel (Gen. xxxi. 19) could be construed as sacrilege or not is doubtful, but this may well have been the penalty thought of by Jacob when Laban accused some of his household of theft (Gen. xxxi. 32 and law No. 6), though theft, if there were no restitution, was in Babylonian law always punishable with death.

The punishment of death by burning, which Judah decreed for his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 24), is parallel with that meted out to a devotee opening or entering a wine-house (probably a place of ill-repute), but the parallel ends there—there is no law in the code of Ḫammurabi, as at present preserved, decreeing death by burning for a widow who became a harlot.

Theft from a palace (law No. 6) is parallel with Gen. xliv. 9, where the sons of Jacob admit the justice of a death-penalty if Joseph’s cup were found in the possession of any of them. Whether the purchase of the Egyptians and their land for bread by Joseph had any analogy in Western Asia or not, is uncertain, though law No. 115, as well as those which precede it, refer to something similar, but in these cases the servitude was terminable, which does not appear from Gen. xlvii. 19 ff. Thereafter the Egyptian ruler took from these farmer-thralls a fifth part of the produce, which compares well with the half or third exacted by the owner of a field in Babylonia from the hirer (law 46). Finally, the clauses of the laws of Ḫammurabi referring to adoption (No. 185) might be quoted in illustration of the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by their grandfather Jacob (Gen. xlviii. 5), especially when read in connection with the inscriptions translated on pp. 176 and 177, where the sharing of the adopted son “like a son” is expressly referred to.

In the New Testament, Gal. iv. 30: “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman,” finds illustration in law 171 of Ḫammurabi’s code, and the parable of the talents (Matt. xxv. 14 ff.) reminds one of the agent sending forth commissioners to get gain for him by trafficking, as in laws 100-102. 103-107 do not bear directly upon this parallel, but are worth noting in connection with it.

It will be long ere all that can be said about this noteworthy inscription finds expression. There is much needing comment, and much to study therein, and the precise rendering of many a word has still to be found out.

Babylon And The Bible.

A great deal has been written concerning the two lectures which the renowned Assyriologist, Friedrich Delitzsch, delivered some time ago before the German Emperor, under the title of _Babel und Bibel_. These lectures have now been published, and from their style and contents, one can easily judge how great was the interest which they aroused. Those who were privileged to hear them must have enjoyed a true archæological feast, all the more exquisite in that the subject was that which throws more light upon the Old Testament than any other known.

His lectures deal, for the most part, with the things which are touched upon at greater length in this book—the early records of Babylonia and Assyria, the history, the literature, the arts, and the sciences of those countries, and of the great cities of which they were so proud. Beginning with “the great mercantile firm of Murašû and Sons in the time of Artaxerxes,” about 450 B.C., and the Hebrew names found therein, he speaks of Ur of the Chaldees, Carchemish, Sargon of Agadé, Ḫammurabi, the Bronze Gates of Shalmaneser II., Sargon of Assyria, Sennacherib, Assurbanipal (Aššur-banî-âpli or Sardanapalus), the Laws of Ḫammurabi (translated in full in this volume), the processions of gods,(297) the blessing of Aaron,(298) the advanced civilization of Babylonia 2250 years B.C., and many other things. To touch upon all his points would be to repeat much that has been treated of in this book, and that being the case, all the most important of them are referred to in the following pages under special headings:—

Canaan.

That he is right in calling Canaan at the time of the Exodus “A domain of Babylonian culture” is indicated by the testimony of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, and is fully shown in the present work, Chapters V.-VII. In the notes appended to the first lecture he refers to the fact that there existed, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, a town called Bît (or Beth) Ninip, after the Babylonian god—“even though there may not have been in Jerusalem itself a _bît Ninip_, a temple of the god Ninip.”

The Sabbath.

In the present work, the Sabbath is referred to on pl. II., where photographs of two fragments (duplicates) explaining the word are given. Prof. Delitzsch calls attention, in the notes to his first lecture, to this text, together with the British Museum syllabary 82-9-18, 4159, col. I., l. 24, where _ud_ (weakened to _û_), meaning “day,” is explained by _šabattum_, “Sabbath,” as “_the_ day” _par excellence_, and from other passages he reasons that the old rendering of the word as “day of rest,” _ûm nûḫ libbi_, “day of rest of the heart”—cf. pl. II.—is the correct one.

The following list of Sumerian and Babylonian days of the month will serve to show exactly how the matter stands:—

Sumerian. Semitic Translation. Babylonian. U ûmu day. U-maš-am [mišil] ûmu half a day. U-gi-kam [ûmu] kal first day (Sum.), the whole day (Sem.). U-mina-kam ši-na [ûmu] second day. U-eši-kam šela[štu ûmu] third day. U-lama-kam irbit fourth (day). U-ia-kam ḫamil[tu] fifth (day). U-âša-kam šeš[šitu] sixth (day). U-imina-kam sib[itu] seventh (day). U-ussa-kam saman[atu] eighth (day). U-ilima-kam tilti do. ninth day. U-ḫu-kam êširti do. tenth day. U-ḫuia-kam šapatti fifteenth day (Sum.), Sabbath (Sem.). U-mana-gi-lal-kam ibbû twentieth day less 1 (Sum.), the wrathful (Sem.). U-mana-kam êšrû twentieth day. U-mana-ia-kam ârḫu bat[tu] twenty-fifth day (Sum.), festival month (Sem.). U-eša-kam šelašâ thirtieth day. U-na-am bubbulum rest-day (Sum.), (day of) desire (Sem.). U-ḫul-gala u-ḫulgallum evil day. U-ḫul-gala ûmu lim[nu] evil day. U-šu-tua ûmu rimku libation-day. U-elene ûmu têliltum purification-day.

From the above it will be seen, that the _šapattum_ or Sabbath was the 15th day of the month, and that only. That it was a day of rest, is shown by the etymology, the word being derived from the Sumerian _ša-bat_, “heart-rest,” which probably has, therefore, no connection with the Semitic root _šabātu_, which, as far as at present known, is a synonym of _gamāru_, “to complete.” It was the day of rest of the heart, but being the 15th, it was also the day when the moon reached the full in the heart or middle of the month, and its name may, therefore, contain a play upon the two ideas which the word _libbu_ contains. In accordance with the general rule, the consonants of words borrowed from the Sumerian were often sharpened when transferred to Semitic Babylonian, hence the form _šapattum_ instead of _šabattum_, though the latter is also found.

The nearest approach to the Sabbath, in the Jewish sense, among the Babylonians, is the _û-ḫulgala_ or _ûmu limnu_, “the evil day,” which, as we know from the Hemerologies, was the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th day of each month, the last so called because it was a week of weeks from the 1st day of the foregoing month. It is this, therefore, which contains the germ of the idea of the Jewish Sabbath, but it was not that Sabbath in the true sense of the term, for if the months had 30 days, the week following the 28th had 9 days instead of 7, and weeks of 8 and 9 days therefore probably occurred twelve times each year. The nature of this original of the Sabbath is shown by the Hemerologies, which describe how it was to be kept in the following words:—

(The Duties Of The 7th Day).