Code of Hammurabi

When the lofty Anu, king of the Anunnaki, and Bel, lord of heaven and earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, the chief son of Ea; when they made him great among the Igigi; when they pronounced the lofty name of Babylon; when they made it famous among the quarters of the world and in its midst established an everlasting kingdom whose foundations were firm as heaven and earth—at that time, Anu and Bel called me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshiper of the gods, to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak, to go forth like the Sun over the Black Head Race, to enlighten the land and to further the welfare of the people. Hammurabi, the governor named by Bel, am I, who brought about plenty and abundance; who made everything for Nippur and Durilu complete; the exalted supporter of E-kur; the wise king, who restored Eridu to its place; who purified the sanctuary of E-apsu; who stormed the four quarters of the world; who made the fame of Babylon great; who rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord; who daily served in Esagila; of the seed royal, which Sin begat; who filled the city of Ur with plenty; the pious and suppliant one, who brought abundance to E-gis-sir-gal; the diplomatic king, obedient to the mighty Shamash; who refounded Sippar; who clothed with green the shrines of Malkat; who decorated E-babbara, which is like a heavenly dwelling; the warrior, the protector of Larsa; who rebuilt E-babbara for Shamash, his helper; the lord, who gave life to the city of Uruk; who supplied water in abundance to its inhabitants; who raised the turrets of Eanna; who brought riches to Anu and Nana; the divine protector of the land; who collected the scattered people of Nisin; who supplied E-gal-mah with luxurious abundance; the monarch, the city king, the brother of Za-ma-ma; who laid the foundations of the settlement of Kish; who surrounded E-te-me-ur-sag with splendor; who constructed the great shrines of Nana; the patron of the temple of Har-sag-kalama, the grave of the enemy; whose help brings victory; who extended the limits of Cutha; who enlarged Shid-lam in every way; the mighty bull, who gores the enemy; the beloved of Tu-tu; who made the city of Borsippa beautiful; the exalted one who was untiring for the welfare of Ezida; the divine city king, wise and intelligent, who extended the settlements of Dilbat; who stored up grain for the mighty Urash; the lord adorned with scepter and crown, whom the wise god Ma-ma has clothed with complete power; who defined the confines of Kish; who made sumptuous the splendid banquets in honor of Nin-tu; the wise and perfect one, who determined the pasture and watering places for Shir-pur-la (Lagash) and Girsu; who provided large sacrifices for the Temple of Fifty; who seized the enemy; the favorite of the exalted god (oracle); who put into execution the laws of Aleppo; who makes joyful the heart of Anunit; the illustrious prince, the lifting up of whose hands Adad recognizes; who pacifies the heart of Adad, the warrior, in Karkar; who re-established the appointments of E-ud-gal-gal; the king who gave life to Ud-nun-ki; the benefactor of the temple E-mah; the presented life to the city of Mashkan-shabri; who poured out abundance over Shid-lam; the wise governor, who captured the bandit caves (?), who provided a hiding-place for the people of Malka in their misfortune; who founded dwelling-places for them in plenty; who determined for all time the splendid sacrifices for Ea and Dam-gal-nunna, who had extended his dominion; the city king first in rank; who subdued the settlements along the Euphrates; the warrior of Dagan, his creator; who protected the people of Mera and Tutul; the exalted prince, who makes the face of Nana to shine; who established splendid banquets for Nin-a-zu; who helps his people in time of need; who establishes in security their property in Babylon; the governor of the people, the servant, whose deeds are pleasing to Anunit; who installed Anunit in E-ul-mash in Agane broadway; who made justice prevail and who ruled the race with right; who returned to Ashur its gracious protecting deity; who made the rising sun (?) to shine brilliantly; the king who made the name of Nana glorious in E-mish-mish in Nineveh: the exalted one, who makes supplication to the great gods; the descendant of Sumulailu, the powerful son of Sinmu-ballit, the ancient seed of royalty, the powerful king, the Sun of Babylon, who caused light to go forth over the lands of Sumer and Akkad; the king, who caused the four quarters of the world to render obedience; the favorite of Nana, am I. When Marduk sent me to rule the people and to bring help to the country, I established law and justice in the land and promoted the welfare of the people.

§1. If a man bring an accusation against a man, and charge him with a (capital) crime, but cannot prove it, he, the accuser, shall be put to death.

§2. If a man charge a man with sorcery, and cannot prove it, he who is charged with sorcery shall go to the river, into the river he shall throw himself and if the river overcome him, his accuser shall take to himself his house (estate). If the river show that man to be innocent and he come forth unharmed, he who charged him with sorcery shall be put to death. He who threw himself into the river shall take to himself the house of his accuser.

§3. If a man, in a case (pending judgment), bear false (threatening) witness, or do not establish the testimony that he has given, if that case be a case involving life, that man shall be put to death.

§4. If he bear (false) witness concerning grain or money, he shall himself bear the penalty imposed in that case.

§5. If a judge pronounce a judgment, render a decision, deliver a verdict duly signed and sealed and afterward alter his judgment, they shall call that judge to account for the alteration of the judgment which he had pronounced, and he shall pay twelve-fold the penalty which was in said judgment; and, in the assembly, they shall expel him from his seat of judgment, and he shall not return, and with the judges in a case he shall not take his seat.

§6. If a man steal the property of a god (temple) or palace, that man shall be put to death; and he who receives from his hand the stolen (property) shall also be put to death.

§7. If a man purchase silver or gold, manservant or maid servant, ox, sheep or ass, or anything else from a man's son, or from a man's servant without witnesses or contracts, or if he receive (the same) in trust, that man shall be put to death as a thief.

§8. If a man steal ox or sheep, ass or pig, or boat—if it be from a god (temple) or a palace, he shall restore thirtyfold; if it be from a freeman, he shall render tenfold. If the thief have nothing wherewith to pay he shall be put to death.

§9. If a man, who has lost anything, find that which was lost in the possession of (another) man; and the man in whose possession the lost property is found say: "It was sold to me. I purchased it in the presence of witnesses;" and the owner of the lost property say: "I will bring witnesses to identify my lost property;" if the purchaser produce the seller who has sold it to him and the witnesses in whose presence he purchased it, and the owner of the lost property produce witnesses to identify his lost property, the judges shall consider their evidence—the witnesses in whose presence the purchase was made and the witnesses to identify the lost property—and the seller is then the thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost property shall recover his lost property. The purchaser shall recover from the estate of the seller the money which he paid out.

§10. If the purchaser do not produce the seller who has sold (it) to him and the witnesses in whose presence he purchased it, and if the owner of the lost property produce witnesses to identify it, the purchaser is the thief, he shall be put to death. The owner of the lost property shall recover his lost property.

§11. If the (alleged) owner of the lost property do not produce witnesses to identify his lost property, he has attempted fraud, he has stirred up strife; he shall be put to death.

§12. If the seller have gone to (his) fate (i.e., have died), the purchaser shall recover damages in said case fivefold from the estate of the seller.

§13. If that man's witnesses be not at hand, the judges shall set a time, at the end of six months he shall bring his witnesses. If at the end of six months he do not bring his witnesses, that man has attempted fraud, he shall bear himself the penalty imposed in that case.

§14. If a man steal a man's son, who is a minor, he shall be put to death.

§15. If a man aid a male or female slave of the palace, or a male or female slave of a freeman to escape from the city gate, he shall be put to death.

§16. If a man harbor in his house a male or female slave who has fled from the palace or from a freeman, and do not bring him (the slave) forth at the call of the commandant, the owner of that house shall be put to death.

§17. If a man seize a male or female slave, a fugitive, in the field and bring that (slave) back to his owner, the owner of the slave shall pay him two shekels of silver.

§18. If that slave will not name his owner, he shall bring him to the palace and they shall inquire into his antecedents and they shall return him to his owner.

§19. If he detain that slave in his house and later the slave be found in his possession, that man shall be put to death.

§20. If the slave escape from the hand of his captor, that man shall so declare, in the name of god, to the owner of the slave and shall go free.

§21. If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and they shall thrust him therein.

§22. If a man practice brigandage and be captured, that man shall be put to death.

§23. If the brigand be not captured, the man who has been robbed, shall, in the presence of god, make an itemized statement of his loss, and the city and the governor, in whose province and jurisdiction the robbery was committed, shall compensate him for whatever was lost.

§24. If it be a life (that is lost), the city and governor shall pay one mana of silver to his heirs.

§25. If a fire break out in a man's house and a man who goes to extinguish it cast his eye on the furniture of the owner of the house, and take the furniture of the owner of the house, that man shall be thrown into that fire.

§26. If either an officer or a constable, who is ordered to go on an errand of the king, do not go but hire a substitute and despatch him in his stead, that officer or constable shall be put to death; his hired substitute shall take to himself his (the officer's) house.

§27. If an officer or a constable, who is in a garrison of the king, be captured, and afterward they give his field and garden to another and he conduct his business—if the former return and arrive in his city, they shall restore to him his field and his garden and he shall conduct his business himself.

§28. If an officer or a constable, who is in a fortress of the king, be captured, and his son be able to conduct the business, they shall give the field and garden to him and he shall conduct his father's business.

§29. If his son be too young and be not able to conduct his father's business, they shall give one-third of the field and of the garden to his mother, and his mother shall rear him.

§30. If an officer or a constable from the beginning of (his tenure of) a field or garden (has been negligent) and has neglected his field or garden, and another take his field or garden and conduct his business—if that officer or constable return and desires his field or garden, his field or garden shall not be given to him. He who has conducted his business shall do so to the end.

§31. If it be only one year that he has abandoned his field or garden, and he return, they shall give him back his field or garden, and he himself shall conduct his business.

§32. If a merchant ransom an officer or a constable who has been captured on an errand of the king, and enable him to reach his city; if there be means in his house for his ransom, he himself shall ransom himself; if there be not means in his house for his ransom, from the temple of his city he shall be ransomed; if there be not sufficient ransom in the temple of his city, the palace shall ransom him. In no case shall his field or his garden or his house be given for his ransom.

§33. If a governor or a magistrate take possession of the men of levy (or, pardon a deserter) or accept and send a hired substitute on an errand of the king, that governor or magistrate shall be put to death.

§34. If a governor or a magistrate take the property of an officer, plunder an officer, let an officer for hire, present an officer in a judgment to a man of influence, take the gift which the king has given to an officer, that governor or magistrate shall be put to death.

§35. If a man buy from an officer the cattle or sheep which the king has given to that officer, he shall forfeit his money.

§36. In no case shall one sell the field or garden or house of an officer, constable or tax-gatherer.

§37. If a man purchase the field or garden or house of an officer, constable or tax-gatherer, his deed-tablet shall be broken (canceled) and he shall forfeit his money and he shall return the field, garden or house to its owner.

§38. An officer, constable or tax-gatherer may not assign to his wife or daughter the field, garden or house which is his ilku (service tenure), nor can he assign them for his debt.

§39. But from the field, garden or house which he has purchased and possesses, he may assign them to his wife or daughter or give them for his debt.

§40. A votary, merchant, or a foreign (tax) obliger may sell the field, garden or house; the purchaser shall conduct the business of the field, garden or house which he has purchased.

§41. If a man exchange a field, garden or house belonging to an officer, constable or tax-gatherer, and hand over a supplement of exchange, the officer, constable or tax-gatherer shall return to his field, garden or house and shall keep the supplement that was handed over to him.

§42. If a man rent a field for cultivation and do not produce any grain in the field, they shall call him to account, because he has not performed the required work on the field, and he shall give to the owner of the field grain on the basis of the adjacent fields.

§43. If he do not cultivate the field and neglect it, he shall give to the owner of the field grain on the basis of the adjacent fields; and the field which he neglected he shall break up with hoes, harrow and return to the owner of the field.

§44. If a man take over for three years a waste field for the purpose of opening it up, but is lazy and does not open up the field, in the fourth year he shall break up the field with hoes, hoe and harrow it, and return it to the owner of the field, and shall measure out ten GUR of grain per ten GAN.

§45. If a man rent his field to a tenant for crop-rent and receive the crop-rent of his field, and afterward Adad (the Storm God) inundate the field and carry away the produce, the loss falls on the tenant.

§46. If he have not received the crop-rent of his field, whether he have rented the field for one-half or one-third (of the crop), the tenant and the owner of the field shall share the grain which is produced in the field proportionately.

§47. If the tenant, because he had not (yet) money in the first year to pay (the rent), has had the field cultivated by another, the owner of the field shall not raise objections; his field has been cultivated and he shall receive grain for his rent according to his agreement.

§48. If a man owe a debt and Adad inundate his field and carry away the produce, or, through lack of water, grain have not grown in the field, he shall not make any returns of grain to his creditor in that year; he shall alter his contract-tablet and he shall not pay the interest for that year.

§49. If a man take money from a merchant and give to the merchant a field to be cultivated in wheat or sesame—if he cultivate the field, at harvest time the wheat or sesame that is in the field, the owner of the field shall take, and he shall give to the merchant grain for his money, which he took from the merchant, and the interest thereon.

§50. If he give a field already cultivated in wheat or sesame, the owner of the field shall take the wheat or sesame that is in the field and he shall repay money and its interest to the merchant.

§51. If he have no money to repay, he shall give in wheat or sesame at their market prices for the money and its interest, which he has received from the merchant, to the merchant.

§52. If the tenant have not caused the wheat or sesame to grow in the field, he shall not dissolve his contract.

§53. If a man neglect to strengthen his dike, and do not strengthen his dike, and a break be made in his dike and the water carry away the farm-land, the man in whose dike the break has been made shall restore the grain which he has damaged.

§54. If he be not able to restore the grain, they shall sell him and his goods, and the farmers whose grain the water has carried away shall share (the results of the sale).

§55. If a man open his canal for irrigation and neglect it, and the water carry away an adjacent field, he shall measure out grain on the basis of the adjacent fields.

§56. If a man turn loose the water, and the water carry away the improvements of an adjacent field, he shall measure out ten GUR of grain per ten GAN.

§57. If a shepherd, without the permission of the owner of the field, and without the knowledge of the owner of the cattle, allow the cattle to graze in a field, the owner of the field shall harvest his field, and the shepherd who allowed his cattle to graze in the field without permission of the owner of the field shall pay besides twenty GUR of grain per ten GAN to the owner of the field.

§58. If after the cattle have gone up from the meadows and the cattle-pen (?) has been shut off at the main city gate, a shepherd allow the cattle to graze in a field and cause them to graze on a field, the shepherd shall take possession of the field which he has grazed on and at the harvest shall pay sixty GUR of grain per ten GAN to the owner of the field.

§59. If a man without the knowledge of the owner of the garden fell a tree in a man's garden, he shall pay one-half mana of silver.

§60. If a man give over a field to a gardener for planting a garden and the gardener plant the garden and care for the garden four years, in the fifth year the owner of the garden and the gardener shall divide equally; the owner of the garden shall choose (and take) his part.

§61. If the gardener do not plant the whole field but leave a portion, the unplanted portion shall be included in his share.

§62. If he do not plant the field that was given to him as a garden, if it be arable land (used for grain), the gardener shall pay to the owner of the field the crop-rent of the field for the years that it was neglected, on the basis of the adjacent fields, and shall do the required work on the field and return it to the owner of the field.

§63. If it be waste land, he shall do the required work on the field and return it to the owner of the field and shall measure out ten GUR of grain per ten GAN for each year.

§64. If a man give his garden to a gardener for the purpose of (raising) dates, the gardener shall give to the owner of the garden two-thirds of the dates the garden shall produce, for as long as the gardener is in possession of the garden, and he himself shall take one-third.

§65. If the gardener do not properly manage the orchard and he diminish the produce, the gardener shall measure out the produce of the orchard on the basis of the adjacent orchards.

[lacuna — §66–99 missing from damaged stele]

§100. [lacuna] he shall write down the interest on the money, as much as he has obtained, and he shall reckon its days and he shall make returns to his merchant.

§101. If he do not meet with success where he goes, the agent shall double the amount of money obtained and he shall pay it to the merchant.

§102. If a merchant give money to an agent as a favor, and the latter meet with a reverse where he goes, he shall return the principal of the money to the merchant.

§103. If, when he goes on a journey, an enemy rob him of whatever he was carrying, the agent shall take an oath in the name of god and go free.

§104. If a merchant give to an agent grain, wool, oil or goods of any kind with which to trade, the agent shall write down the value and return (the money) to the merchant. The agent shall take a sealed receipt for the money which he gives to the merchant.

§105. If the agent be careless and do not take a sealed receipt for the money which he has given to the merchant, the money not receipted for shall not be placed to his account.

§106. If an agent take money from a merchant and (then) dispute (the fact) with his merchant, that merchant shall call the agent to account before god and witnesses for the money taken, and the agent shall pay to the merchant threefold the amount of money he had taken.

§107. If a merchant wrong an agent and the agent return to his merchant whatever was given him, and if the merchant dispute whatever the agent has given to him, that agent shall call the merchant to account before god and witnesses and the merchant shall pay to the agent sixfold the amount which he has taken.

§108. If a wine-merchant (woman) do not accept grain for the price of beer but take money by the large weight, or if she make the measure of beer smaller than the measure of grain, they shall call that wine merchant to account and they shall throw her into the water.

§109. If enemies plot against a man and he harbor them in a beer-house of a wine-merchant (woman) and she do not bring them to the palace, that wine-merchant shall be put to death.

§110. If a woman dedicated to a god, a votary who is not living in a cloister, open a beer-shop or enter a beer-shop for beer, they shall burn that woman.

§111. If a wine-merchant (woman) give one PI of beer on credit, she shall receive fifty QA of grain at harvest time.

§112. If a man is going on a journey and he give silver, gold, precious stone or personal property to a man, and consign it to him for transport, and if that man do not deliver that which was to be transported to its destination, but take it to himself, the owner of the consigned (property) shall call that man to account for what was consigned and not delivered, and that man shall pay to the owner of the consigned (property) fivefold the amount consigned to him.

§113. If a man hold a debt of grain or money against a man and he take grain without the knowledge of the owner of the grain from the granary or the threshing-floor, they shall call that man to account for taking grain without the knowledge of the owner from the granary or the threshing-floor, and he shall return as much grain as he took and shall forfeit all that he has lent, whatever it be.

§114. If a man have not grain or money for repayment but make a distress upon a(nother) man, for each distress he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§115. If a man make a distress upon a man for a debt of grain or money that was his due and the distrained (person) die in the house of his distrainer from natural causes, that case has no penalty.

§116. If the distrained (person) die in the house of his distrainer from blows or bad treatment, the owner of the distrained (person) shall call the merchant to account; and if he be the son of a man, they shall put his (the merchant's) son to death; if he be the slave of a man, he shall pay one-third mana of silver, and shall forfeit all that he has lent, whatever it be.

§117. If a man be in debt and sell his wife, son, or daughter, or bind them over to service, for three years they shall work in the house of their purchaser or master; in the fourth year they shall be given their freedom.

§118. If he bind over to service a male or female slave, and the merchant transfer or sell the slave, (the slave) cannot be reclaimed.

§119. If a man be in debt and he sell his maid-servant who has borne him children, the owner of the maid-servant shall repay to the merchant the money which the merchant paid (for her), and the maid-servant shall be redeemed.

§120. If a man store grain in the house of another and a loss occur in the storehouse, or if the owner of the house open the granary and take grain or deny that grain was stored in his house, the owner of the grain shall establish his grain before god, and the owner of the house shall restore to the owner of the grain double the grain that he had taken.

§121. If a man store grain in another man's house, he shall pay five QA of grain per GUR of grain per year as storage charges.

§122. If a man give to another silver, gold or anything else in safekeeping, whatever he gives he shall show to witnesses and he shall arrange the terms of the contract and then intrust (the goods) to the other's care.

§123. If he give them in safe-keeping without witnesses or contract, and they dispute his claim at the place where he made the deposit, that case has no penalty.

§124. If a man give to another silver, gold or anything else in safe-keeping in the presence of witnesses, but the latter dispute his claim, they shall call that man to account and he shall give double what he had disputed to the owner (of the goods).

§125. If a man give his property in safe-keeping, and where he gives it to (safe-keeping) his property together with the property of the owner of the house be lost by reason of burglary or pillage, the owner of the house who is careless, and has lost the property entrusted to him, shall compensate the owner of the goods. The owner of the house shall search for all that has been lost and shall recover it from the thief; and if the thief has not yet been caught, the owner of the house shall declare what he has lost before god and the owner of the goods shall double the lost property and the owner of the house shall compensate the owner.

§126. If a man have not lost anything but say that something has been lost, and if he proceed to making claims upon his city and his neighbors, his city and his neighbors shall make inquiry before god concerning that man, and whatever false claim he made, they shall double and assign to his city and his neighbors.

§127. If a man point the finger at a votary or the wife of a man and cannot prove it, they shall flog that man before the judges and shave off half of his hair.

§128. If a man take a wife and do not draw up a contract for her, that woman is not a wife.

§129. If the wife of a man be taken in lying with another man, they shall bind them and throw them into the water. If the husband of the woman wish to save his wife, or if the king wish to save his male servant (he may).

§130. If a man force the (betrothed) wife of another who has not known a man and still lives in her father's house, and lie in her bosom and they take him, that man shall be put to death, the woman shall go free.

§131. If a man accuse his wife but she have not been taken in lying with another man, she shall take an oath in the name of god and return to her house.

§132. If a man's wife be pointed at by reason of another man, but she have not been taken in lying with the other man, she shall throw herself into the river for (the sake of) her husband.

§133. If a man be taken captive and there be maintenance in his house, his wife shall keep herself (chaste), she shall not enter another man's house. If that woman do not keep herself chaste and enter another man's house, they shall convict that woman and throw her into the water.

§134. If a man be taken captive and there be not maintenance in his house and his wife go to another man's house, that woman has no blame.

§135. If a man be taken captive and there be no maintenance in his house and his wife enter another man's house and bear children, and if later her husband return and arrive in his city, that woman shall return to her former husband, but the children shall follow their own father.

§136. If a man desert his city and flee, and afterward, his wife enter another man's house; if that man return and wish to take back his wife, the wife of the fugitive shall not return to her husband.

§137. If a man set his face to put away a concubine who has borne him children, or a wife who has presented him with children, he shall return to that woman her dowry and shall give to her the income of field, garden and goods and she shall bring up her children; from the time that her children are grown up, from whatever is given to her children they shall give to her a portion corresponding to that of a son and the man of her choice may marry her.

§138. If a man wish to put away his wife who has not borne him children, he shall give her money to the amount of her marriage settlement and he shall make good to her the dowry which she brought from her father's house and then he may put her away.

§139. If there were no marriage settlement, he shall give her one mana of silver for a divorce.

§140. If he be a freeman, he shall give her one-third mana of silver.

§141. If the wife of a man who is living in his house set her face to go out and play the part of a fool, neglect her house, belittle her husband, they shall call her to account; if her husband say: "I have put her away," he shall let her go. On her departure nothing shall be given her for her divorce. If her husband say: "I have not put her away," her husband may take another woman. The first woman shall dwell in the house of her husband as a maid servant.

§142. If a woman hate her husband and say: "Thou shalt not have me," they shall inquire into her antecedents for her defects; and if she have been a careful mistress and be without reproach and her husband have been going about and greatly belittling her, that woman has no blame, she shall receive her dowry and go to her father's house.

§143. If she have not been a careful mistress, have gadded about, have neglected her house and have belittled her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water.

§144. If a man take a wife and that wife give a maid-servant to her husband and (the maid-servant) bear children and afterward that maid-servant take equal rank with her mistress; because she has borne children her mistress may not sell her; she may place the mark (of a slave) upon her and count her among the slaves.

§145. If a man take a wife and she bear him no children, and he set his face to take a concubine, that man may take a concubine and bring her into his house, that concubine shall not take equal rank with his wife.

§146. If a man take a wife and she give a maid-servant to her husband and the maid-servant bear children, and if afterward the maid-servant take equal rank with her mistress, because she has borne children her mistress may not sell her; she may place the mark of a slave upon her and count her among the slaves.

§147. If she have not borne children, her mistress may sell her.

§148. If a man take a wife and disease seize her; if he then wish to take a second wife and put away his sick wife, he may do so. His sick wife, whom he wishes to put away, shall not be put away; but she shall be maintained in the house which he has built, and as long as she lives she shall be sustained.

§149. If that woman do not wish to remain in her husband's house, he shall make good to her the dowry which she brought from her father's house and she may go.

§150. If a man make over to his wife field, garden, house or personal property and deliver a sealed deed to her; after the death of her husband her children cannot make a claim against her. The mother may make over to her child that she loves, (but) to a brother she may not make it over.

§151. If a woman, who is living in a man's house, make a contract with her husband not to be answerable for a merchant who holds claims against her husband; if that man had a debt before he took that woman, his creditor cannot take her; and if that woman had a debt before she entered a man's house, her creditor cannot take her husband.

§152. If after the woman has entered the man's house, they jointly incur a debt, both of them are answerable to the merchant.

§153. If the wife of a man bring about the death of her husband for the sake of another man, they shall impale that woman.

§154. If a man have connection with his daughter, they shall expel that man from the city.

§155. If a man betroth a girl to his son and his son have connection with her, but afterward the man himself lie in her bosom and they take him, they shall bind that man and throw him into the water.

§156. If a man betroth a girl to his son and his son have not known her, if then he himself lie in her bosom, he shall pay her one-half mana of silver and he shall make good to her whatever she brought from her father's house; and the husband of her choice may marry her.

§157. If a man, after his father's death, lie in the bosom of his mother, they shall burn them both.

§158. If a man, after his father's death, be taken in the bosom of his chief wife who has borne children, that man shall be cut off from his father's house.

§159. If a man, who has presented a gift to the house of his father-in-law and has given the marriage settlement, set his face against his wife and say: "I will not have thee," the marriage settlement which he brought shall be forfeited, and whatever he presented to the house of his father-in-law shall belong to the father of the wife.

§160. If a man present a gift to the house of a father-in-law and give a marriage settlement and the father of the girl say: "I will not give thee my daughter," whatever he received he shall double and return.

§161. If a man present a gift to the house of his father-in-law and give a marriage settlement and his friend slander him, and the father of the girl say: "Thou shalt not marry my daughter," whatever was brought to the father's house shall be returned double; his friend shall not marry his (betrothed).

§162. If a man take a wife and she bear him children and that woman die, her father has no claim on her dowry; her dowry belongs to her children.

§163. If a man take a wife and she do not bear him children, and that woman die; if his father-in-law return to him the marriage settlement which that man brought to the house of his father-in-law, her husband has no claim on the dowry of that woman. The dowry of that woman belongs to the house of her father.

§164. If his father-in-law do not return to him the marriage settlement, he shall deduct from the dowry the amount of the marriage settlement and return (the balance of) her dowry to the house of her father.

§165. If a man present a field, garden or house to his favorite son and write him a sealed deed of presentation; after the father has died, when the brothers divide, he shall take the gift which the father gave him, and over and above his share; they shall divide the property of the father's house equally.

§166. If a man take wives for the sons whom he has and take a wife for his youngest son, after the father has died, when the brothers divide they shall set aside the marriage settlement which the father paid to the wife of the youngest son, and over and above they shall divide the property of their father's house equally.

§167. If a man take a wife and she bear him children; (if) that woman die and he take a second wife and she bear children; after the father has died, the children of the two mothers shall divide (the property of) the father's house. Each shall take the marriage settlement of his own mother and (then) they shall divide the property of the father's house.

§168. If a man set his face to disinherit his son and say to the judges: "I will disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his antecedents and if the son have not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship.

§169. If he have committed a crime against his father grave enough to cut him off from sonship, they shall condone his first (offense); if he commit a grave crime a second time, the father may cut off his son from sonship.

§170. If a man's wife bear him children and his maid-servant bear him children, and the father during his life time say to the children which the maid-servant bore him: "My children," and reckon them with the children of his wife; after the father dies the children of the wife and the children of the maid-servant shall divide the property of the father's house equally. The children of the wife shall make choice at the division.

§171. But if the father during his lifetime have not said to the children of the maid-servant: "My children," after the father dies the children of the maid-servant shall not share in the property of the father's house with the children of the wife. The maid-servant and her children shall be given their freedom; the children of the wife shall have no claim on the children of the maid-servant for service; the wife shall take her dowry and the gift which her husband gave her and deeded to her, and dwell in the house of her husband; as long as she lives she may use it, it is not salable; her estate shall belong to her children.

§172. If her husband have not made her a gift, they shall make good to her her dowry and she shall receive from the property of her husband's house a portion corresponding to that of one son. If her children scheme against her to drive her out of the house, the judges shall inquire into her antecedents and if the children be in the wrong, the woman shall not leave her husband's house. If the woman set her face to go out, the gift which the husband made her she shall leave to her children; she shall receive the dowry of her father's house and the husband of her choice may marry her.

§173. If that woman bear children to her later husband into whose house she has entered, and afterward that woman die, the former and the later children shall divide her dowry.

§174. If she bear no children to her later husband, the children of her first husband shall have her dowry.

§175. If a palace slave or a freeman's slave marry the daughter of a man and she bear children, the owner of the slave shall have no claim on the children of the daughter of a man for service.

§176. And if a palace slave or a freeman's slave marry the daughter of a man and when he has married her she bring with her a dowry from her father's house, and if after they are joined together and live in a house they found an estate, and if the slave die, the daughter of the man shall take her dowry; and whatever the husband and wife jointly acquired she shall divide into two parts; one-half the owner of the slave shall take, and one-half the daughter of the man shall take for her children.

§177. If a widow whose children are young set her face to enter another man's house, she shall not do so without the consent of the judges. When she enters another man's house, the judges shall inquire into the estate of her former husband, and they shall intrust the estate of her former husband to the second husband and that woman and they shall have them make a tablet (an inventory thereof). They shall keep the estate and bring up the children. They shall not sell the household furniture. He who buys the household furniture of the widow's children shall forfeit his money; the goods shall revert to their owner.

§178. If a votary or a holy woman, whose father have presented her with a dowry and written her a deed, have not written in her deed that she may give the dowry as she pleases, or have not given her full legal power; after her father has died, her brothers shall take her field and her garden, and according to the value of her share they shall give to her grain, oil and wool and they shall content her. If her brothers have not given to her grain, oil and wool according to the value of her share, and have not contented her, she may give her field and her garden to a tenant who pleases her, and her tenant shall sustain her. She shall have the use of the field, garden and whatever her father has given her as long as she lives; she cannot sell it or satisfy a debt with it. Her inheritance belongs to her brothers.

§179. If a votary or a holy woman, to whom a father has presented a dowry, has written her deed, and has given her full power to give away a dowry as she pleases; after her father has died, she may give her estate as she pleases; her brothers cannot make a claim against her.

§180. If a father have not presented a dowry to his daughter who is a priestess-hierodule or a holy woman, after her father's death she shall have a share of the property of her father's house like that of one of the sons; she shall enjoy the use of it as long as she lives; after her death it belongs to her brothers.

§181. If a father dedicate (his daughter) as a temple woman, a priestess-hierodule or a priestess to a god and give her no dowry; after her father's death she shall have one-third the share (of a son) out of the property of her father's house and she shall enjoy its use as long as she lives; after her death it belongs to her brothers.

§182. If a father dedicate his daughter to Marduk of Babylon as a holy woman and give her no dowry; after her father's death she shall have one-third of the inheritance of her brothers out of the property of her father's house and she shall enjoy its use as long as she lives; after her death it belongs to her brothers.

§183. If a father have presented a dowry to his daughter who is a concubine and have given her to a husband and written a deed; after the father has died, she shall have no share of the property of her father's house.

§184. If a man have not presented a dowry to his daughter who is a concubine and has not given her to a husband; after her father has died, her brothers shall give to her a dowry as corresponds to the wealth of her father's house and shall give her to a husband.

§185. If a man take in his name a young child as a son and rear him, that foster child cannot be reclaimed.

§186. If a man take a young child as a son, and when he takes him, that (child) is seeking his own father and mother, that foster-child shall return to his father's house.

§187. The son of a palace attendant or the son of a votary cannot be reclaimed.

§188. If an artisan take a son for adoption and teach him his handicraft, (the son) cannot be reclaimed.

§189. If he have not taught him his handicraft, that foster-child shall return to his father's house.

§190. If a man do not reckon into sonship the child whom he has taken as a son and reared (with his own children), that foster-child shall return to his father's house.

§191. If a man, who has taken a young child as a son and reared him, establish his own house (and acquire children of his own), and set his face to put away the foster-child, that foster-child shall not go away empty. The father who reared him shall give to him of his goods one-third of a son's share and he shall go; from field, garden and house he shall not give to him.

§192. If the son of a palace attendant or the son of a votary say to his father who reared him or to his mother who reared him: "Thou art not my father" or "Thou art not my mother," they shall cut out his tongue.

§193. If the son of a palace attendant or the son of a votary identify his father's house and hate the father who reared him or the mother who reared him and go back to his father's house, they shall pluck out his eyes.

§194. If a man give his son to a nurse and that son die in the hands of the nurse, and the nurse, without the knowledge of his father and mother, substitute another son; they shall call her to account, and because she has substituted another son without the consent of the father and mother, they shall cut off her breast.

§195. If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers.

§196. If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.

§197. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone.

§198. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman, he shall pay one mana of silver.

§199. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half his price.

§200. If a man knock out the teeth of a man of the same rank, they shall knock out his teeth.

§201. If he knock out the teeth of a freeman, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§202. If a man strike the person of a man (who is) of higher rank than he, he shall receive sixty strokes with an ox-tail whip in public.

§203. If a man of the same rank strike another, he shall pay one mana of silver.

§204. If a freeman strike a freeman, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.

§205. If the slave of a man strike a man of gentle birth, they shall cut off his ear.

§206. If a man strike another man in a quarrel and wound him, that man shall swear: "I did not strike him deliberately," and he shall be answerable for the physician.

§207. If he die of his blow, he shall swear (as above), and if it be a man of gentle birth, he shall pay one-half mana of silver.

§208. If it be a freeman, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§209. If a man strike the daughter of a (free) man and cause her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay ten shekels of silver for the fruit of her womb.

§210. If that woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.

§211. If through a blow he cause the daughter of a poor man to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay five shekels of silver.

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

§213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man and she lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay two shekels of silver.

§214. If that maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§215. If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound (or make a severe wound upon a man) with a bronze lancet and save the man's life; or if he open an abscess (in the eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and save that man's eye, he shall receive ten shekels of silver (as his fee).

§216. If the patient be a freeman, he shall receive five shekels.

§217. If it be a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the physician.

§218. If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause the man's death, or open an abscess (in the eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers.

§219. If a physician operate on a slave of a freeman for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause his death, he shall restore a slave of equal value.

§220. If he open an abscess (in the eye) of a slave with a bronze lancet and destroy his eye, he shall pay silver to the extent of one-half his value.

§221. If a physician set a broken bone of a man, or cure a diseased muscle, the patient shall pay the physician five shekels of silver.

§222. If the patient be a freeman, he shall pay three shekels of silver.

§223. If it be a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the physician.

§224. If a veterinary physician operate on an ox or an ass for a severe wound and save its life, the owner of the ox or ass shall give to the physician, as his fee, one-sixth (shekel) of silver.

§225. If he operate on an ox or an ass for a severe wound and cause its death, he shall give to the owner of the ox or ass one-quarter of its value.

§226. If a barber without the knowledge of the owner of a slave make the slave-mark of a slave not to be changed, they shall cut off the fingers of that barber.

§227. If a man deceive a barber and he put upon a slave the mark of a slave not to be changed, they shall put that man to death and bury him in his house; the barber shall swear: "I did not knowingly mark him," and he shall go free.

§228. If a builder build a house for a man and complete it, (the owner) shall pay him two shekels of silver per SAR of house as his wage.

§229. If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death.

§230. If it cause the death of the son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death the son of that builder.

§231. If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give to the owner of the house a slave of equal value.

§232. If it destroy property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed from his own property (i.e., at his own expense).

§233. If a builder build a house for a man and do not make it of proper construction and a wall fall in, that builder shall strengthen that wall at his own expense.

§234. If a boatman build a boat of sixty GUR for a man, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his wage.

§235. If a boatman build a boat for a man and do not make its construction firm and the boat which he has built develop structural weakness in the same year, the boatman shall take it apart and make it strong from his own property, and restore the strong boat to the owner of the boat.

§236. If a man rent his boat to a boatman and the boatman be careless and sink or lose the boat, the boatman shall restore the boat to the owner of the boat.

§237. If a man hire a boatman and a boat and freight it with grain, wool, oil, dates or any other kind of freight, and that boatman be careless and sink the boat and its freight is lost, the boatman shall make good the boat which he sank and whatever of its freight he lost.

§238. If a boatman sink a man's boat and raise it again, he shall give silver to the amount of one-half its value.

§239. If a man hire a boatman, he shall give him six GUR of grain per year.

§240. If a rower's boat run into a sailing boat and sink it, the owner of the boat whose boat was sunk shall establish what he lost before god; and the rower's boat which sank the sailing boat shall replace his boat and whatever was lost.

§241. If a man distrain an ox, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§242–243. If a man hire (an ox) for a year, he shall give to its owner four GUR of grain as the hire of a draught ox, (and) three GUR of grain as the hire of an ox (?).

§244. If a man hire an ox or an ass and a lion kill it in the field, it is the owner's affair.

§245. If a man hire an ox and cause its death through neglect or abuse, he shall restore an ox of equal value to the owner of the ox.

§246. If a man hire an ox and break its leg or cut the tendon of its neck, he shall restore an ox of equal value to the owner of the ox.

§247. If a man hire an ox and destroy its eye, he shall give silver to the owner of the ox to the extent of one-half its value.

§248. If a man hire an ox and break off its horn, cut off its tail or injure the flesh of its back, he shall give silver to the extent of one-fifth of its value.

§249. If a man hire an ox and god strike it and it die, the man who hired the ox shall take an oath before god and go free.

§250. If a bull, in going along the street, gore a man and cause his death, this case has no penalty (for the owner).

§251. If a man's bull have been wont to gore, and they have made known to him his failing, but he have not covered his horns or tied up his bull, and the bull gore a man of gentle birth and cause his death, he shall pay one-half mana of silver.

§252. If it be the slave of a man, he shall pay one-third mana of silver.

§253. If a man hire another man to cultivate his field and furnish him with seed-grain and intrust him with oxen and contract with him to cultivate the field; if that man steal the grain or fodder and it be found in his possession, they shall cut off his fingers.

§254. If he take the seed-grain and work his oxen hard, he shall restore the amount of grain that he took.

§255. If he let out the oxen of a man for (hire) or steal the seed-grain and not produce grain in the field, they shall call that man to account and he shall measure out sixty GUR of grain per ten GAN.

§256. If he cannot pay his debt, they shall leave him in the field with the cattle.

§257. If a man hire a field-laborer, he shall give him eight GUR of grain per year.

§258. If a man hire a herdsman, he shall give him six GUR of grain per year.

§259. If a man steal a watering-machine from the meadow, he shall pay five shekels of silver to the owner of the watering-machine.

§260. If he steal a swipe or a plow, he shall pay three shekels of silver.

§261. If a man hire a herdsman to pasture the cattle or the sheep, he shall give him eight GUR of grain per year.

§262. If a man (present) an ox or a sheep to a[n unfinished]

§263. If the ox or sheep which was given to him be lost or destroyed, he shall restore to the owner an ox for an ox, a sheep for a sheep.

§264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been given for herding, receive his full wages as he has been contracted for and be content, (but) diminish the number of the cattle or sheep or reduce the offspring, they shall call him to account for the diminution of the offspring and the diminution of the number.

§265. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been given for herding, be guilty of fraud and alter the price of (his wages), or sell them, they shall call him to account and he shall restore to the owner cattle or sheep tenfold what he has stolen.

§266. If a stroke of god (lightning) happen in a fold or a lion make a kill, the herdsman shall declare himself innocent before god, but the owner of the fold shall receive the damage in the fold.

§267. If a herdsman be careless and allow disease to spread in the fold, the herdsman shall make good in cattle and sheep the loss in the fold that he has caused through the disease and give them to their owner.

§268. If a man hire an ox to thresh and twenty QA of grain be the (usual) wage therefor, if a man hire an ass to thresh, ten QA of grain be its (usual) wage.

§269. If a man hire a goat to thresh, one QA of grain is its (usual) wage therefor.

§270. If a man hire a young animal for the purpose of threshing and the owner of (the young animal) work it (himself), (taking) the wages per day, as many days as he works it, he shall give the amount of grain prescribed above.

§271. If a man hire oxen, a wagon and a driver, he shall give one hundred and eighty QA of grain per day.

§272. If a man hire a wagon alone, he shall give forty QA of grain per day.

§273. If a man hire a day laborer, he shall give him eight SE of silver from the beginning of the year to the fifth month; from the sixth month to the end of the year he shall give six SE of silver per day.

§274. If a man hire a skilled artisan, the wages of a carpenter per day five SE of silver; the wages of a brick-maker per day five SE of silver; the wages of a tailor per day five SE of silver; the wages of a stone-cutter per day (?) SE of silver; the wages of a jeweler per day (?) SE of silver; the wages of a smith per day (?) SE of silver; the wages of a carpenter per day (?) SE of silver; the wages of a rope-maker per day (?) SE of silver; the wages of a builder per day (?) SE of silver.

§275. If a man hire a ferry-boat, he shall pay three SE of silver per day.

§276. If he hire a sail-boat (?), he shall pay 2½ SE of silver per day as its hire.

§277. If a man hire a ship of sixty GUR, he shall pay one-sixth shekel of silver per day as its hire.

§278. If a man buy a male or female slave and within the month that slave develop disease, he shall return (the slave) to the seller and the purchaser shall receive the money which he paid.

§279. If a man buy a male or female slave and the slave be claimed (by another), the seller shall answer the claim.

§280. If a man buy in a foreign land a male or female slave of another man and if when he comes home the master of the male or female slave recognize his male or female slave; if the male and female slave be a native of the land, they shall be given their freedom without money.

§281. If they be from another land, the buyer shall declare before god how much money he paid and the owner of the male or female slave shall (re-)pay to the merchant (the amount) that he paid and shall (thus) redeem his male or female slave.

§282. If a male slave say to his master: "Thou art not my master," his master shall prove him to be his slave and shall cut off his ear.

The righteous laws, which Hammurabi, the wise king, established and (by which) he gave the land stable support and pure government. Hammurabi, the perfect king, am I. I was not careless, nor was I neglectful of the Black-Head people, whose rule Bel presented and Marduk delivered to me. I provided them with a peaceful country. I opened up difficult barriers and lent them support. With the powerful weapon which Za-má-má and Nana entrusted to me, with the breadth of vision which Ea allotted me, with the might which Marduk gave me, I expelled the enemy to the North and South; I made an end of their raids; I brought health to the land; I made the population to rest in friendly habitations; I did not let them have anyone to terrorize them.

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 raised 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 man 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."

In the days that are yet to come, for all future time, may the king who is in the land observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument; may he not alter the law of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; may he not efface my monuments. If that man have wisdom, if he wish to keep his land in order, he will heed the words which I have written upon my monument; this monument will enlighten him as to rule and government, the judgments which I have pronounced, and give him the decisions of the land, so that he will guide aright his black-head people; render justice to them, pronounce judgment for them and eradicate the wicked and evil from the land.

If that man pay attention to my words which I have written on my monument, do not efface my judgment, do not give contrary orders, do not alter my words, do not put others in the place of my words, then Shamash shall prolong that man's reign, as he has mine, who am the king of righteousness, that he may rule his black-head people in righteousness.

If that man do not pay attention to my words which I have written on my monument; if he forget my curses and do not fear the curse of god, if he abolish the judgments which I have formulated, if he alter my words, if he put other (men) in my place, if he efface my monument, and fill in my name (by writing in) his own name, or on account of (these) curses commission another so to do, as for that man, be he a king or a lord, or a viceroy or any person who may be in power, may the great god, the father of the gods, who has proclaimed my reign, take from him the glory of royalty, break his scepter, curse his destiny.

May Bel, the lord, who fixed my destiny, whose command cannot be altered, who has made great my kingdom, with his powerful mouth order revolt and insurrection for him; may he destine for him as (his) destiny ruin and destruction; may the word of Bel's mouth, which cannot be altered, overtake him; may it chase him from great temples, may it destroy the dwelling-place of his kingship; may he cause his land to be in lamentation, his settlements to go to ruin, his people to eat each other; may he destine for him the life of the bricklayers, inactivity, and scarcity of food.

May Nin-karrak, the daughter of Anu, who promulgated my decrees, not cause disease, sickness, bad wounds, swelling of the flesh, fevers, weakness of the limbs, (but) may she bring against him, in his lands, severe trials, great disease, severe wounds, sickness (that does not heal), misery; may she weep his complaints until his spirit finds no rest; until (at last) she shall bring away his life.

May Ea, the great lord, whose decrees are first (in rank), the leader of the gods, who knows all things, who prolongs the days of my life, deprive him of the knowledge and understanding of water-channels; may he ruin his land; may he determine as the fate of his kingdom the scarcity (of resources), the poverty of existence, the shortage of supplies, the destruction of foundations, the drowning of the land.

May Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, who rules the living creatures, the lord of life, overthrow his kingdom; may he not give him the judgment of the righteous; may he confuse his ways; may he break up the plans of his hosts; by his oracle may he deliver to him an evil omen which shall uproot the foundations of his kingdom and destroy his land.

May Sin, the lord of heaven, the divine father, whose crescent no longer rises among the gods, take from him the crown and the (divine) throne of kingship; may he put upon him heavy guilt, great sin, that no prayer and supplication of his can lift; may he destine him to pass his days, months and years in sorrow and weeping; may he heap upon him the burden of a troublous reign; may he destine him to evil, that his life-breath be snuffed out as that of a corpse.

May Adad, the lord of abundance, whose rains are a bountiful irrigation from heaven, whose floods make fertile the field and granary, deprive him of the rain from heaven and the flood from the sources; may he destroy his land through want and famine; may he roar mightily over his city and make his land like a ruined mound left by a flood.

May Zu-en, the lord of heights, the first among the gods, take away the foundation of his throne; may he cause the disaster of his land.

May Zababa, the great warrior, the first-born son of E-kur, who goes at my right hand, shatter his weapons on the field of battle; may he turn day into night for him, and let his enemy trample upon him.

May Ishtar, goddess of battle and conflict, who makes ready my weapons, the gracious protecting deity, who loves my reign, curse his dominion with great fury in her wrathful heart, and turn good into evil for him! May she shatter his weapons on the field of battle and conflict! May she create confusion and revolt for him! May she strike down his warriors, may their blood water the earth! May she cast the bodies of his warriors upon the fields in heaps! May she not grant his warriors (burial (?))! May she deliver him into the hands of his enemies, and may they carry him away bound into a hostile land!

May Nergal, the mighty among the gods, the warrior without an equal, who grants me victory, in his great power, burn his people like a raging fire of swamp-reed. With his powerful weapon, may he cut him off and may he break his members like an earthen image!

May Nin-tu, the exalted mistress of the lands, the mother who bore me, deny him a son! May she not let him hold a name among his people, nor beget an heir!

May Nin-kar-ra-ak, the daughter of Anu, who commands favors for me in E-kur, cause to come upon his members until it overcomes his life, a grievous malady, an evil disease, a dangerous sore, which cannot be cured, which the physician cannot diagnose, which he cannot allay with bandages, and which, like the bite of death, cannot be removed! May he lament the loss of his vigor!

May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunnaki in their assembly, curse with blighting curses the wall of the temple, the construction of this E-babbarra, his seed, his land, his army, his people, and his troops!

May Bel with his command which cannot be altered curse him with a powerful and may it come upon him speedily!