The material for the study of Babylonian law is singularly extensive. The so-called "contracts" exist in the thousands, including a great variety of deeds, conveyances, bonds, receipts, accounts, and most important of all, the actual legal decisions given by the judges in the law courts. Historical inscriptions, royal charters and rescripts, dispatches, private letters and the general literature afford welcome supplementary information. Even grammatical and lexicographical works contain many extracts or short sentences bearing on law and custom. The so-called "Sumerian Family Laws" are thus preserved. Other cultures involved with ancient Mesopotamia shared the same common laws and precedents extending to the form of contacts which Kenneth Kitchen has studied and compared to the form of contracts in the Bible with particular note to the sequence of blessings and curses that bind the deal. The instructions of Ptahhotep, Sharia Law, and Mosaic law also include certifications for professionals like doctors, lawyers and skilled craftsmen which prescribe the penalties for malpractice in a very similar manner to the code of Hammurabbi. For other uses, see Mesopotamia (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Babylonlion. ... Surfer Rosa The Euphrates (IPA: /juːˈfreɪtiːz/; Greek: Euphrátēs; Akkadian: Pu-rat-tu; Hebrew: פְּרָת Pĕrāth; Syriac: Prâth; Arabic: الفرات Al-Furāt; Turkish: Fırat; Kurdish: فرهات, Firhat, Ferhat, Azeri: Fərat) is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia (the other... The Tigris is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq. ... Sumer (or Šumer) was the earliest known civilization of the ancient Near East, located in lower Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), from the time of the earliest records in the mid 4th millennium BC until the rise of Babylonia in the late 3rd millennium BC. The term Sumerian applies to all speakers... Uruk (Sumerian Unug, Biblical Erech, Greek Orchoë and Arabic وركاء Warka), was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates, on the line of the ancient Nil canal, in a region of marshes, about 140 miles (230 km) SSE from Baghdad. ... For other uses, see Ur (disambiguation). ... Eridu (or Eridug) was an ancient city seven miles southwest of Ur . ... Kish [kish] (Tall al-Uhaymir) was an ancient city of Sumer, now in central Iraq. ... Lagash (Akkadian lagaš) or Sirpurla (Sumerian ŠIR.BUR.LAKI; modern Tell al-Hiba), northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, was one of the oldest cities of Sumer and later Babylonia. ... The city of Nippur (Sumerian Nibru, Akkadian Nibbur) (now it is in Afak town,Al Qadisyah Governorate) was one of the most ancient (some historians date it back to 5262 B.C. [1][2]) of all the Babylonian cities of which we have any knowledge, the special seat of the... The Akkadian Empire usually refers to the Semitic speaking state that grew up around the city of Akkad north of Sumer, and reached its greatest extent under Sargon of Akkad. ... For the Egyptian writer, see Abbas Al-Akkad. ... For other uses, see Babylon (disambiguation). ... An International Securities Identifying Number (ISIN) uniquely identifies a security. ... Winged sphinx from the palace of Darius the Great at Susa. ... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Assur (Assyrian: ܐܫܘܪ) also spelled Ashur, from Assyrian Aššur, was the capital of ancient Assyria. ... , For other uses, see Nineveh (disambiguation). ... Human-headed winged bull, found during Bottas excavation. ... Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... For other uses, see Chaldean. ... Elam (Persian: تمدن ایلام) is one of the oldest recorded civilizations. ... For the language, see Amorite language. ... For the history of the kingdom of Mitanni (1500–1300 BC), see Mitanni. ... Kingdom of Mitanni Mitanni (cuneiform KUR URUMi-it-ta-ni, also Mittani Mi-ta-an-ni, in Assyrian sources Hanigalbat, Khanigalbat cuneiform Ḫa-ni-gal-bat ) was a Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia from ca. ... // The Kassites were a Near-Eastern mountain tribe which migrated to the Zagros Mountains and Mesopotamia (present Doroud) in 3000 and 4000 BC.[1] They spoke a non-Indo-European, non-Semitic language. ... Urartu at its greatest extent 743 BC Urartu (Biainili in Urartian) was an ancient kingdom in the mountainous plateau between Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Caucasus mountains, later known as the Armenian Highland, and it centered around Lake Van (present-day eastern Turkey). ... The Chronology of the Ancient Orient deals with the notoriously difficult task of assigning years of the Common Era to various events, rulers and dynasties of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. The chronology of this region is based on five sets of primary materials. ... The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. ... This page lists the Kings of Lamestia from the late sixties. ... The following is a list of the Kings of Babylon, a major city of ancient Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... Sumerian ( native tongue) was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BCE. It was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language in the beginning of the 2nd millenium BCE, but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Elamite is an extinct language, which was spoken by the ancient Elamites (also known as Ilamids). ... Hurrian is a conventional name for the language of the Hurrians (Khurrites), a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, and was likely spoken at least initially in Hurrian settlements in... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... Enûma Eliš is the Babylonian creation epic. ... For other uses, see Gilgamesh (disambiguation). ... Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... An English deed written on fine parchment or vellum with seal tag dated 1638. ... Conveyancing is the act of transferring the legal title in a property from one person to another. ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ... For the ship of the same name, see Royal Charter (ship). ... A rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response (it literally means written back) to a specific demand made by its addressee. ... In mathematics, the lexicographical order, or dictionary order, is a natural order structure of the cartesian product of two ordered sets. ... Emeritus Professor Kenneth A. Kitchen (University of Liverpool publicity photograph, 2006). ...

The discovery of the now-celebrated Code of Hammurabi (hereinafter simply termed "the Code") has made a more systematic study possible than could have resulted from the classification and interpretation of the other material. Some fragments of a later code exist and have been published; but there still remain many points whereof we have no evidence. An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi. ...

This material dates from the earliest times up to the commencement of the common era. Evidence on a particular point may be very full at one period, and almost entirely lacking for another. The Code forms the backbone of the skeleton sketch that is here reconstructed. The fragments of it that have been recovered from Assur-bani-pal's library at Nineveh and later Babylonian copies show that it was studied, divided into chapters, entitled Ninu ilu sirum from its opening words, and recopied for fifteen hundred years or more. The greater part of it remained in force, even through the Persian, Greek and Parthian conquests, that affected private life in Babylonia very little; and it survived to influence Syro-Roman and later Islamic law in Mesopotamia. The laws and customs that preceded the Code, we shall call "early"; that of the Neo-Babylonian empire (as well as the Persian, Greek, etc.) "late." The law of Assyria was derived from Babylonia, but conserved early features long after they had disappeared elsewhere. Assurbanipal in a relief from the north palace at Nineveh There were several Assyrian kings named Assur-bani-pal, also spelled Asurbanipal, Assurbanipal (most commonly), Ashurbanipal and Ashshurbanipal, but the best known was Assurbanipal IV.  Ashurbanipal, or Assurbanipal, (reigned 668 - 627 BCE), the son of Esarhaddon and Naqia-Zakutu... , For other uses, see Nineveh (disambiguation). ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... “Persia” redirects here. ... Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf... Anthem Homat el Diyar Guardians of the Land Capital (and largest city) Damascus Official languages Arabic Demonym Syrian Government Presidential republic  -  President Bashar al-Assad  -  Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Etri Independence from France   -  First declaration September 19361   -  Second declaration January 1, 1944   -  Recognized April 17, 1946  Area  -  Total 185,180... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the dynamic body of Islamic religious law. ... For other uses, see Mesopotamia (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ...

Tribal influences

When the Semitic tribes settled in the cities of Mesopotamia, their tribal customs passed over into city law. The early history of the country is the story of a struggle for supremacy between the cities. A metropolis demanded tribute and military support from its subject cities, but left their local cults and customs unaffected. The city rights and usages were respected by kings and conquerors alike. In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical Shem, Hebrew: שם, translated as name, Arabic: سام) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. ... Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. ... A tribute (from Latin tribulum, contribution) is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. ...

As late as the accession of Assur-bani-pal and Shamash-shum-ukin, we find the Babylonians appealing to their city laws that groups of aliens to the number of twenty at a time were free to enter the city; that foreign women, once married to Babylonian husbands, could not be enslaved; and that not even a dog that entered the city could be put to death untried. Assurbanipal in a relief from the north palace at Nineveh There were several Assyrian kings named Assur-bani-pal, also spelled Asurbanipal, Assurbanipal (most commonly), Ashurbanipal and Ashshurbanipal, but the best known was Assurbanipal IV.  Ashurbanipal, or Assurbanipal, (reigned 668 - 627 BCE), the son of Esarhaddon and Naqia-Zakutu... Shamash-shum-ukin was king of Babylon from 669-648 BC. He was the second son of the Assyrian King Esarhaddon. ...

The population of Babylonia was of many races from early times, and intercommunication between the cities was incessant. Every city had a large number of resident aliens. This freedom of intercourse must have tended to assimilate custom. It was, however, reserved for the genius of Hammurabi to make Babylon his metropolis and weld together his vast empire by a uniform system of law. For the computer game, see Hamurabi. ...

Almost all trace of tribal custom had already disappeared from the law of the Code. It is state-law; self-help, blood-feud, marriage by capture, are all absent; though code of family solidarity, district responsibility, ordeal, the lex Kham-murabi. talionis, are primitive features that remain. The king is a benevolent autocrat, easily accessible to all his subjects, both able and willing to protect the weak against the highest-placed oppressor. The royal power, however, can only pardon when private resentment is appeased. Judges are strictly supervised, and appeal is allowed. The whole land is covered with feudal holdings, masters of the levy, police, etc. There is a regular postal system. The pax Babylonica is so assured that private individuals do not hesitate to ride in their carriage from Babylon to the coast of the Mediterranean. The position of women is free and dignified. An autocrat is generally speaking any ruler with absolute power; the term is now usually used in a negative sense (cf. ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... Look up Levy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The Code did not merely embody contemporary custom or conserve ancient law. It is true that centuries of law-abiding and litigious habitude had accumulated, in the temple archives of each city, vast stores of precedent in ancient deeds and records of judicial decisions, and that intercourse had assimilated city custom. The universal habit of writing, and perpetual recourse to written contract, even more modified primitive custom and ancient precedent. In law, a precedent or authority is a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court may need to adopt when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      In the law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ...

Provided the parties could agree, the Code left them free to contract, as a rule. Their deed of agreement was drawn up in the temple by a notary public, and confirmed with an oath "by god and the king." It was publicly sealed, and witnessed by professional witnesses, as well as by collaterally interested parties. The manner whereby it was thus executed may have been sufficient guarantee that its stipulations were not impious or illegal. Custom or public opinion doubtless secured that the parties would not agree to "wrong." In case of dispute, the judges dealt first with the contract. They might not sustain it, but if the parties did not dispute it, they were free to observe it. The judges' decision might, however, be appealed against. Many contracts contain the proviso that in case of future dispute, the parties would abide by "the decision of the king." The Code made known, in a vast number of cases, what that decision would be, and many cases of appeal to the king were returned to the judges with orders to decide in accordance with it. The Code itself was carefully and logically arranged, and the order of its sections was conditioned by their subject-matter. Nevertheless, the order is not that of modern scientific treatises, so a somewhat different order from both is most convenient for our purpose. A US Embossed Notary Seal. ... Look up Treatise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also: English translation of Hammurabi's Code

Three classes

The Code contemplates the whole population as falling into three classes: the amelu, the muskinu and the ardu.

The amelu was a patrician, the man of family, whose birth, marriage and death were registered; of ancestral estates and full civil rights. He had aristocratic privileges and responsibilities, and the right to exact retaliation for corporal injuries, but was liable to a heavier punishment for crimes and misdemeanours, higher fees and fines. To this class belonged the king and court, the higher officials, the professions and craftsmen. The term became a mere courtesy title over time, but originally carried with it a certain status. Already in the Code, when status is not concerned, it is used to denote "anyone." There was no property qualification, nor does the term appear to be racial. This article is about the social and political class in ancient Rome. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... Misdemeanors are lesser criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. ...

It is most difficult to characterize the muskinu exactly. The term came in time to mean "a beggar", and with that meaning has passed through Aramaic and Hebrew into many modern languages; but though the Code does not regard him as necessarily poor, he may have been landless. He was free, but had to accept monetary compensation for corporal injuries, paid smaller fees and fines, even paid less offerings to the gods. He inhabited a separate quarter of the city. There is no reason to regard him as specially connected with the court, as a royal pensioner, nor as forming the bulk of the population. The rarity of any references to him in contemporary documents makes further specification conjectural. Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

The ardu was a slave, his master's chattel, and formed a very numerous class. He could acquire property and even hold other slaves. His master clothed and fed him, and paid his doctor's fees, but took all compensation paid for injury done to him. His master usually found him a slave-girl as wife (the children were then born slaves), often set him up in a house (with farm or business) and simply took an annual rent of him. Otherwise, he might marry a free woman (the children were then free), who might bring him a dower that his master could not touch, and at his death, one-half of his property passed to his master as his heir. He could acquire his freedom by purchase from his master, or might be freed and dedicated to a temple, or even adopted, when he became an amelu and not a muskinu. Slaves were recruited by purchase abroad, from captives taken in war, or by freemen degraded for debt or crime. A slave often ran away; if caught, the captor was bound to restore him to his master, and the Code fixes a reward of two shekels that the owner must pay the captor. It was about one-tenth of the average value. To detain or harbour, etc., a slave was punishable by death. So was an attempt to get him to leave the city. A slave bore an identification mark, removable only by a surgical operation, and that later consisted of his owner's name tattooed or branded on the arm. On the great estates in Assyria and its subject provinces, there were many serfs, mostly of subject race, settled captives, or quondam slaves; tied to the soil they cultivated, and sold with the estate, yet capable of possessing land and property of their own. There is little trace of serfs in Babylonia, unless the muskinu be really a serf. Personal property is a type of property. ... Silver half-shekel struck in the Greek colony of Taras, during the Punic occupation. ...

Citizens tenants of gods

The god of a city was originally considered the owner of its land, that encircled it with an inner ring of irrigable arable land and an outer fringe of pasture; and the citizens were his tenants. The god and his vice regent, the king, had long ceased to disturb tenancy, and were content with fixed dues in naturalia, stock, money or service. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

One of the earliest monuments records the purchase by a king of a large estate for his son, paying a fair market price and adding a handsome honorarium to the many owners, in costly garments, plate, and precious articles of furniture. The Code recognizes complete private ownership of land, but apparently extends the right to hold land to votaries and merchants. But all land was sold subject to its fixed charges. The king, however, could free land from these charges by charter, which was a frequent way of rewarding those who deserved well of the state. Love gift Man presents a cut of meat to a youth with a hoop. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

It is from these charters that we learn nearly all we know of the obligations lying upon land. The state demanded men for the army and the corvée, as well as dues in kind. A defined area was bound to find a bowman, together with his linked pikeman (who bore the shield for both), and to furnish them with supplies for the campaign. This area was termed a "bow" as early as the 8th century BC, but the practice was much earlier. Later, a horseman was also due from certain areas. A man was only bound to serve so many (six?) times, but the land still had to find a man annually. This service was usually discharged by slaves and serfs, but the amelu (and perhaps the muskinu) also went to war. The "bows" were grouped in tens and hundreds. The corvée was less regular. The letters of Hammurabi often deal with claims to exemption. Religious officials and shepherds in charge of flocks were exempt. Bowman may refer to: Look up bowman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A pike is a pole weapon once used extensively by infantry principally as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) Ruins of the training grounds at Olympia, Greece. ...

Special liabilities lay upon riparian owners to repair canals, bridges, quays, etc. The state claimed certain proportions of all crops, stock, etc. The king's messengers could commandeer any subject's property, giving a receipt. Further, every city had its own octroi duties, customs, ferry dues, highway and water rates. The king had long ceased to be owner of the land, if he ever was. He had his own royal estates, his private property, and dues from all his subjects. The higher officials had endowments and official residences. A riparian zone schematic from the Everglades. ...

The Code regulates the feudal position of certain classes. They held an estate from the king, consisting of house, garden, field, stock, and a salary, on condition of personal service on the king's errand. They could not delegate the service, on penalty of death. When ordered abroad, they could nominate a capable son to hold the benefice and carry on the duty. If there were no capable son, the state put in a locum tenens, but granted one-third to the wife to maintain herself and children. The fief was otherwise inalienable; it could not be sold, pledged, exchanged, sublet, devised or diminished. Other land was leased from the state. Ancestral estate was strictly tied to the family. If a holder would sell, the family kept the right of redemption, and there seems to have been no time-limit to its exercise. Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud or fee, consisted of heritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a vassal knights service (usually fealty, military service, and security). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Temple

The temple occupied a most important position. It received from its estates, from tithes and other fixed dues, as well as from the sacrifices (a customary share) and other offerings of the faithful, vast amounts of all sorts of naturalia; besides money and permanent gifts. The larger temples had many officials and servants. A tithe (from Old English teogoþa tenth) is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a Jewish or Christian religious organization. ...

Originally, perhaps, each town clustered round one temple, and each head of a family had a right to minister there and share its receipts. As the city grew, the right to so many days a year at one or other shrine (or its "gate") descended within certain families, and became a kind of property that could be pledged, rented or shared within the family, but not alienated. Despite all these demands, the temples became great granaries and store-houses, as they were also the city archives. The temple had its responsibilities. If a citizen were captured by the enemy and could not ransom himself, the temple of his city must do so. To the temple came the poor farmer to borrow seed, grain, or supplies for harvesters, etc. — advances that he repaid without interest. Archive of the AMVC hahahahaAn archive refers to a collection of records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept. ... The term ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property extorted to secure their release, or to the sum of money involved. ...

The king's power over the temple was not proprietary, but administrative. He might borrow from it, but repaid like other borrowers. The tithe seems to have been considered the rent due to the god for his land. It is not clear that all lands paid tithe; perhaps only such as once had a special connection with the temple. Proprietary indicates that a party, or proprietor, exercises private ownership, control or use over an item of property, usually to the exclusion of other parties. ...

The Code deals with a class of persons devoted to the service of a god, as vestals or hierodules. The vestals were vowed to chastity, lived together in a great nunnery, were forbidden to enter a tavern, and, together with other votaries, had many privileges. Vestal can refer to: Pertaining to Vesta (mythology), a Roman goddess, the Sacred fire of Vesta, or the Temple of Vesta Vestal Virgin Vestal, New York Albert Henry Vestal, American politician USS Vestal (AR-4), ship See also Vesta This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with... In ancient Greece and Anatolia a hierodule, from Greek hiero- holy and doule female slave, was a temple slave in the service of a specific deity, often with the connotation of religious prostitution. ... Allegory of chastity by Hans Memling. ... This article is about an abbey as a religious building. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Property law

The Code recognizes many ways of disposing of property: sale, lease, barter, gift, dedication, deposit, loan, or pledge, all of which were matters of contract. "Sale" was the delivery of the purchase (in the case of real estate, symbolized by a staff, a key, or deed of conveyance) in return for the purchase money, receipts being given for both. Credit, if given, was treated as a debt, and secured as a loan by the seller to be repaid by the buyer, for which he gave a bond. This article or section should include material from Tenancy agreement A lease is a contract conveying from one person (the lessor) to another person (the lessee) the right to use and control some article of property for a specified period of time (the term), without conveying ownership, in exchange for... Barter is a type of trade in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and/or services; no money is involved in the transaction. ... Pledge is a verb, meaning to promise solemnly, and a noun, meaning the promise or its maker or its object. ... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ...

The Code admits no claim unsubstantiated by documents or the oath of witnesses. A buyer had to convince himself of the seller's title. If he bought (or received on deposit) from a minor or a slave without power of attorney, he would be executed as a thief. If the goods were stolen and the rightful owner reclaimed them, he had to prove his purchase by producing the seller and the deed of sale, or witnesses to it; otherwise he would be adjudged a thief and die. If he proved his purchase, he had to give up the property but had his remedy against the seller or, if he had died, could reclaim fivefold from his estate. In many countries such as India, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand a minor is presently defined as a person under the age of 18. ... A power of attorney or letter of attorney in common law systems or mandate in civil law systems is an authorization to act on someone elses behalf in a legal or business matter. ... Look up remedy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

A man who bought a slave abroad, might find that he had previously been stolen or captured from Babylonia, and he then had to restore him to his former owner without recompense. If he bought property belonging to a feudal holding, or to a ward in chancery, he had to return it and forfeit what he gave for it as well. He could repudiate the purchase of a slave attacked by the bennu sickness within the month (later, a hundred days), and held a newly-purchased female slave three days "on approval". A defect of title, or an undisclosed liability, would invalidate a sale at any time. In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. ... The term chancery can refer to: the office building in which a diplomatic mission (, an embassy) is housed, its administrative, not strictly diplomatic staff, or the diplomatic personnel responsible for political matters (as Head of Chancery). ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. ...

Leasing

Landowners frequently cultivated their land themselves, but might employ a husbandman, or rent it. The husbandman was bound to carry out the proper cultivation, raise an average crop, and leave the field in good tilth. In case the crop failed, the Code fixed a statutory return. Land might be leased at a fixed rent, when the Code enacted that accidental loss fell on the tenant. If let on share-profit, the landlord and tenant shared the loss proportionately to their stipulated share of profit. If the tenant paid his rent and left the land in good tilth, the landlord could not interfere nor forbid subletting. Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ... A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ...

Waste land was let to reclaim, the tenant being rent-free for three years and paying a stipulated rent in the fourth year. If the tenant neglected to reclaim the land, the Code enacted that he must hand it over in good tilth and fixed a statutory rent. Gardens or plantations were leased in the same ways and under the same conditions; but for date groves, four years' free tenure was allowed.

The metayer system was in vogue, especially on temple lands. The landlord found land, labour, oxen for ploughing and working the watering machines, carting, threshing or other implements, grain seed, rations for the workmen and fodder for the cattle. The tenant, or steward, usually had other land of his own. If he stole the seed, rations or fodder, the Code enacted that his fingers be cut off. If he appropriated or sold the implements, impoverished or sublet the cattle, he was heavily fined, and in default of payment might be condemned to be torn to pieces by the cattle on the field. Rent was as contracted. The Metayage system (Fr. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... For the constellation known as The Plough see Ursa Major. ... Fodder growing from barley In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, including cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... The terms steward or stewardess can refer to a number of different professional roles. ...

Irrigation was indispensable. If the irrigator neglected to repair his dike, or left his runnel open and caused a flood, he had to make good the damage done to his neighbours' crops, or be sold with his family to pay the cost. The theft of a watering machine, water-bucket or other agricultural implement was heavily fined. Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. ... Afsluitdijk, a 32 km dike in the Netherlands. ...

Houses were usually leased for the year, but also for longer terms, rent being paid in advance, half-yearly. The contract generally specified that the house be in good repair, and the tenant was bound to keep it so. The woodwork, including doors and door frames, was removable, and the tenant might bring and take away his own. The Code enacted that if the landlord would re-enter before the term was up, he must remit a fair proportion of the rent. Land was leased for houses or other buildings to be built upon it, the tenant being rent-free for eight or ten years; after which the building came into the landlord's possession.

Hired labour

Despite the multitude of slaves, hired labour was often needed, especially at harvest. This was a matter of contract, and the employer, who usually paid in advance, might demand a collateral against fulfillment of the work. Cattle were hired for ploughing, working the watering-machines, carting, threshing, etc. The Code fixed a statutory wage for sowers, ox-drivers, field-labourers, and hire for oxen, asses, etc. Collateral within a financial context is used to indicate assets that secure a debt obligation. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 For other uses, see Donkey (disambiguation). ...

There were many herds and flocks. The flocks were committed to a shepherd, who gave receipt for them and took them out to pasture. The Code fixed his wage. He was responsible for all care, must restore ox for ox, sheep for sheep, must breed them satisfactorily. Any dishonest use of the flock had to be repaid tenfold, but loss due to disease or wild beasts fell upon the owner. The shepherd made good all loss due to his own neglect. If he let the flock feed on a field of crops, he had to pay damages fourfold; if he turned them into standing crops when they ought to have been folded, he paid twelvefold.

Debt

In commercial matters, payment in kind was still common, though the contracts usually stipulate for cash, naming the standard expected -- that of Babylon, Larsa, Assyria, Carchemish, etc. The Code enacted, however, that a debtor must be allowed to pay in produce according to a statutory scale. If a debtor had neither money nor crops, the creditor must not refuse goods. Larsa (the Biblical Ellasar, Genesis 14:1), was an important city of ancient Babylonia, the site of the worship of the sun-god, Shamash, represented by the ancient ruin mound of Senkereh (Senkera). ... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Carchemish (pr. ...

Debt was secured on the person of the debtor. Distraint on a debtor's grain was forbidden by the Code; not only must the creditor return it, but his illegal action forfeited his claim altogether. An unwarranted seizure for debt was fined, as was the distraint of a working ox. Distraint is a condition under English law in which a debtor may be forced to surrender personal possessions for sale to account for a debt. ...

The debtor being seized for debt could nominate as mancipium, or hostage to work off the debt, his wife, a child, or slave. The creditor could only hold a wife or child three years as mancipium. If the mancipium died a natural death while in the creditor's possession, no claim could lie against the latter; but if he was the cause of death by cruelty, he had to give son for son, or pay for a slave. He could sell a slave-hostage, apart from a slave-girl who had borne her master children; she had to be redeemed by her owner.

The debtor could also pledge his property, and in contracts often pledged a field, house or crop. The Code enacted, however, that the debtor should always take the crop himself and pay the creditor from it. If the crop failed, payment was deferred, and no interest could be charged for that year. If the debtor did not cultivate the field himself, he had to pay for the cultivation, but if the cultivation was already finished, he must harvest it himself and pay his debt from the crop. If the cultivator did not get a crop, this would not cancel his contract.

Pledges were often made where the intrinsic value of the article was equivalent to the amount of the debt; but antichretic pledge was more common, where the profit of the pledge was a set-off against the interest of the debt. The whole property of the debtor might be pledged as collateral for the payment of the debt, without any of it coming into the enjoyment of the creditor. Personal guarantees were often given in Babylon that the debtor would repay, or the guarantor become liable himself.

Trade

Trade was very extensive. A common procedure was for a merchant to entrust his goods or money to a travelling agent, who sought a market for his goods. The caravans travelled far beyond the limits of the empire. A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. ...

The Code insisted that the agent should inventory and give a receipt for all that he received. No claim could be made for anything not so entered. Even if the agent made no profit, he was bound to return double what he had received; if he made poor profit, he had to make up the deficiency; but he was not responsible for loss by robbery or extortion on his travels. On his return, the lending merchant must give him a receipt for what was handed over to him. Any false entry or claim on the agent's part was penalised threefold; on the lending merchant's part, sixfold. In normal cases, profits were divided according to contract, usually equally. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ...

A considerable amount of forwarding (advancing wares to the agent up front) was done by the caravans. The carrier gave a receipt for the consignment, took all responsibility, and exacted a receipt upon delivery. If he defaulted, he paid fivefold. He was usually paid in advance. Deposit, especially warehousing of grain, was charged for at one-sixtieth. The warehouse man took all risks, paid double for all shortage, but no claim could be made unless he had given a properly witnessed receipt.

Water traffic on the Euphrates and canal system was early on, quite considerable. Ships, whose tonnage was estimated by the amount of grain they could carry, were continually hired for the transport of all kinds of goods. The Code fixes the price for shipbuilding, and insists on the builder's giving a year's guarantee of seaworthiness. It also fixes the rate of hire for ship and crew. The captain was responsible for the freight and the ship; he had to replace all loss. Even if he refloated the ship, he had to pay a fine of half its value for sinking it. In the case of collision, the boat under way was responsible for damages to the boat at anchor. Surfer Rosa The Euphrates (IPA: /juːˈfreɪtiːz/; Greek: Euphrátēs; Akkadian: Pu-rat-tu; Hebrew: פְּרָת Pĕrāth; Syriac: Prâth; Arabic: الفرات Al-Furāt; Turkish: Fırat; Kurdish: فرهات, Firhat, Ferhat, Azeri: Fərat) is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia (the other... Men from Francisco de Orellanas expedition building a small brigantine, the San Pedro, to be used in the search for food Shipbuilding is the construction of ships. ... Freight is a term used to classify the transportation of cargo and is typically a commercial process. ...

The Code also regulated the liquor traffic — fixing a fair price for beer, and forbidding the connivance of the tavern-keeper (a female) at disorderly conduct or treasonable assembly, under pain of death. She was required to take the offenders to the palace — implying an efficient and accessible police system. For other uses, see Treason (disambiguation) or Traitor (disambiguation). ...

Payment through a banker or by written draft against deposit was frequent. Bonds to pay were treated as negotiable. Interest was rarely charged on advances by the temple or wealthy landowners for pressing needs, but this may have been part of the metayer system. The borrowers may have been tenants. Interest was charged at very high rates for overdue loans of this kind. Merchants (and even temples in some cases) made ordinary business loans, charging from 20% to 30%.

Family law

Marriage

Marriage retained the form of purchase, but was essentially a contract to be man and wife together. The marriage of young people was usually arranged between the relatives — the groom's father providing the bride-price, which with other presents, the suitor ceremonially presented to the bride's father. This bride-price was usually handed over by her father to the bride upon her marriage, and so returned into the bridegroom's possession, along with her dowry, which was her portion as a daughter. Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ... A dowry (also known as trousseau) is a gift of money or valuables given by the family of the bride to the family of the groom at the time of their marriage. ...

The bride-price varied greatly, according to the status of the parties, but surpassed the price of a slave. The Code enacted that if the father does not, after accepting a man's presents, give him his daughter, he must return the presents doubled. This was done even if his decision was brought about by libel on the part of the suitor's friend, and the Code enacted that the faithless friend should not marry the girl. If a suitor changed his mind, he forfeited the presents. In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...

The dowry might include real estate, but generally consisted of personal effects and household furniture. It remained the wife's for life, descending to her children, if any; otherwise returning to her family, when the husband could deduct the bride-price if it had not been given to her, or return it, if it had.

The marriage ceremony included joining of hands and the utterance of some formula of acceptance on the part of the bridegroom, as "I am the son of nobles, silver and gold shall fill thy lap, thou shalt be my wife, I will be thy husband. Like the fruit of a garden I will give thee offspring." It must be performed by a freeman.

The marriage contract — without which, the Code ruled that the woman was no wife — usually stated the consequences to which each party was liable for repudiating the other. These by no means necessarily agree with the Code. Many conditions might be inserted: as that the wife should act as maidservant to her mother-in-law, or to a first wife.

The married couple formed a unit as to external responsibility, especially for debt. The man was responsible for debts contracted by his wife, even before her marriage, as well as for his own; but he could use her as a mancipium. Hence the Code allowed a proviso to be inscribed in the marriage contract, that the wife should not be seized for her husband's pre-nuptial debts; but enacted that then he was not responsible for her pre-nuptial debts, and, in any case, that both together were responsible for all debts contracted after marriage. A man might make his wife a settlement by deed of gift, which gave her a life interest in part of his property, and he might reserve to her the right to bequeath it to a favourite child; but she could in no case leave it to her family. Although married, she always remained a member of her father's house — she is rarely named wife of A; usually daughter of B, or mother of C.

Code continued..

Divorce

Divorce was optional with the man, but he had to restore the dowry, and if the wife had borne him children, she had the custody of them. He had then to assign her the income of field, or garden, as well as goods, to maintain herself and children until they grew up. She then shared equally with them in the allowance (and apparently in his estate at his death) and was free to marry again. If she had no children, he returned her the dowry, and paid her a sum equivalent to the bride-price — or a mina of silver, if there had been none. The latter is the forfeit usually named in the contract for his repudiation of her. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse. ... Mina can refer to: // MiNa, the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Research Group at The University of British Columbia Mina, Gabon Mina, Greece Mina, Iloilo, in the Philippines. ... Forfeiting is the act of voluntarily admitting defeat in a competition or contest, thereby surrendering victory to the opposition. ... Repudiation the act of refusing and not accepting; the act of repudiating The young mans repudiation of the churchs doctrines caused a conflict between him and his religious parents. ...

If she had been a bad wife, the Code allowed him to send her away, while he kept the children and her dowry; or he could degrade her to the position of a slave in his own house, where she would have food and clothing. She might bring an action against him for cruelty and neglect and, if she proved her case, obtain a judicial separation, taking with her, her dowry. No other punishment fell on the man. If she did not prove her case, but was proved to be a bad wife, she was drowned.

If she was left without maintenance during her husband's involuntary absence, she could cohabit with another man, but must return to her husband if he came back, the children of the second union remaining with their own father. If she had maintenance, a breach of the marriage tie was adultery. Wilful desertion by, or exile of, the husband dissolved the marriage, and if he returned, he had no claim on her property; possibly not on his own. The article refers to the comic book series. ... This article is about the act of adultery. ...

Widowhood

A widow took her husband's place in the family — living on in his house and bringing up the children. She could only remarry with judicial consent, when the judge was bound to inventory the deceased's estate and hand it over to her and her new husband in trust for the children. They could not alienate a single utensil.

If she did not remarry, she lived on in her husband's house and took a child's share on the division of his estate, when the children had grown up. She still retained her dowry and any settlement deeded to her by her husband. This property came to her children. If she had remarried, all her children shared equally in her dowry, but the first husband's gift fell to his children, or to her selection among them, if so empowered.

Childbearing

Monogamy was the rule, and a childless wife might give her husband a maid (who was no wife) to bear him children, who were then reckoned hers. She remained mistress of her maid, and might degrade her to slavery again for insolence, but could not sell her if she had borne her husband children. If the wife did this, the Code did not allow the husband to take a concubine; but if she would not, he could do so. The concubine was a co-wife, though not of the same rank; the first wife had no power over her. Faithfulness redirects here. ... A swampy marsh area ...

A concubine was a free woman, was often dowered for marriage, and her children were legitimate. She could only be divorced on the same conditions as a wife. If a wife became a chronic invalid, the husband was bound to maintain her in the home they had made together, unless she preferred to take her dowry and return to her father's house; but he was free to remarry. In all these cases, the children were legitimate and lawful heirs.

There was, of course, no hindrance to a man having children by a slave girl. These children were free in any case, and their mother then could not be sold, though she might be pledged, and she became free upon her master's death. Her children could be legitimized by their father's acknowledgment before witnesses, and were often adopted. They then ranked equally in sharing their father's estate; but if not adopted, the wife's children divided and took first choice.

Vestal virgins were not supposed to have children, yet they could marry and often did. The Code contemplated that such a wife would give a husband a maid, as above. Image of a Roman Vestal Virgin In Ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins (sacerdos Vestalis), were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. ...

Free women might marry slaves and still be dowered for the marriage. The children were free, and at the slave's death, the wife took her dowry and half of what she and her husband had acquired in wedlock for self and children; the master taking the other half, as his slave's heir.

A father had control over his children until their marriage. He had a right to their labour, in return for their keep. He might hire them out and receive their wages, pledge them for debt, even sell them outright. Mothers had the same rights in the absence of the father; elder brothers, when both parents were dead. A father had no claim on his married children for support, but they retained the right to inherit on his death.

The daughter was not only in her father's power to be given in marriage, but he might dedicate her to the service of some god as a vestal or a hierodule; or give her as a concubine. She had no choice in these matters, often decided in her childhood. A grown-up daughter might wish to become a votary, perhaps in preference to an uncongenial marriage, and it seems that her father could not refuse her wish.

In all these cases, the father might dower her. If he did not, on his death the brothers were bound to do so, giving her a full child's share if a wife, a concubine or a vestal, but one-third of a child's share if she were a hierodule or a Marduk priestess. The latter had the privilege of exemption from state dues, and absolute disposal of her property. All other daughters had only a life interest in their dowry, which reverted to their family, if childless, or went to their children if they had any. A father might, however, execute a deed granting a daughter power to leave her property to a favourite brother or sister. Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century...

A daughter's estate was usually managed for her by her brothers, but if they dissatisfied her, she could appoint a steward. If she married, her husband managed it. The son also appears to have received his share on marriage, but did not always then leave his father's house; he might bring his wife there. This was usual in child marriages. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Adoption

Adoption was very common, especially where the father (or mother) was childless, or had seen all his children grow up and marry away. The child was then adopted to care for the parents' old age. This was done by contract, that usually specified what the parent had to leave and what maintenance was expected. The real children, if any, were usually consenting parties to an arrangement that cut off their expectations. They even, in some cases, found the estate for the adopted child who was to relieve them of care. If the adopted child failed to carry out the filial duty, the contract was annulled in the law courts. Slaves were often adopted, and if they proved unfilial, were reduced to slavery again. For other uses, see Adoption (disambiguation). ... Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. ...

A craftsman often adopted a son to learn the craft. He profited by the son's labour. If he failed to teach his son the craft, that son could prosecute him and get the contract annulled. This was a form of apprenticeship, and it is not clear that the apprentice had any filial relation. Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of skilled crafts practitioners, which is still popular in some countries. ... If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ...

A man who adopted a son, and afterwards married and had a family of his own, could dissolve the contract, and must give the adopted child one-third of a child's share in goods, but no real estate. That could only descend in his former family. Vestals frequently adopted daughters, usually other vestals, to care for their old age.

Adoption had to be with consent of the real parents, who usually executed a deed making over the child, who thus ceased to have any claim upon them. But vestals, hierodules, certain palace officials and slaves had no rights over their children and could raise no obstacle. Orphans and illegitimate children had no parents to object. If the adopted child discovered his true parents and wanted to return to them, his eye or tongue was torn out. An adopted child was a full heir; the contract might even assign him the position of eldest son. Usually he was residuary legatee. A residuary estate, in the law of wills, is any portion of the testators estate that is not specifically devised to someone in the will, or any property that is part of such a specific devise that fails. ...

Heirs

All legitimate children shared equally in the father's estate at his death, reservation being made of a bride-price for an unmarried son, dower for a daughter, or property deeded to favourite children by the father. There was no birthright attaching to the position of eldest son, but he usually acted as executor, and after considering what each had already received, equalized the shares. He even made grants in excess to the others from his own share. When there were two widows with legitimate issue, both families shared equally in the father's estate, until later times, when the first family took two-thirds. Daughters, in the absence of sons, had sons' rights. Children also shared their own mother's property, but had no share in that of a stepmother. An executor is a person named by a maker of a will to carry out the directions of the will. ...

A father could disinherit a son in early times without restriction, but the Code insisted upon judicial consent, and that only for repeated unfilial conduct. In early times, the son who denied his father had his front hair shorn, a slave-mark put on him, and could be sold as a slave; while if he denied his mother he had his front hair shorn, was driven round the city as an example and expelled from his home, but not degraded to slavery.

Adultery

Adultery was punished with the death of both parties by drowning; but if the husband was willing to pardon his wife, the king might intervene to pardon the paramour. For incest with his own mother, both were burned to death; with a stepmother, the man was disinherited; with a daughter, the man was exiled; with a daughter-in-law, he was drowned; with a son's fiancee, he was fined. A wife who for her lover's sake procured her husband's death was gibbeted. A betrothed girl, seduced by her prospective father-in-law, took her dowry and returned to her family, and was free to marry as she chose. This article is about the act of adultery. ... Incest is sexual activity between two persons related by close kinship. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Gibbet is a term applied to several different devices used in the capital punishment of criminals and/or the deterrence of potential criminals. ...

Punishment

In the criminal code, the ruling principle was the lex talionis. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, limb for limb was the penalty for assault upon an amelu. A sort of symbolic retaliation was the punishment of the offending member, seen in the cutting off the hand that struck a father or stole a trust; in cutting off the breast of a wet nurse who substituted a changeling for the child entrusted to her; in the loss of the tongue that denied father or mother (in the Elamite contracts, the same penalty was inflicted for perjury); in the loss of the eye that pried into forbidden secrets. The loss of the surgeon's hand that caused loss of life or limb; or the brander's hand that obliterated a slave's identification mark, are very similar. The slave who struck a freeman or denied his master, lost an ear, the organ of hearing and symbol of obedience. To bring another into danger of death by false accusation was punished by death. To cause loss of liberty or property by false witness was punished by the same penalty the perjurer sought to bring upon another. A Criminal Code is a compilation of government laws that outline a nations criminal offenses, and the maximum and minimum punishments that courts can impose upon offenders when such crimes are committed. ... A wet nurse is a woman who nurses a baby not her own. ... Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913. ... Elam (Persian: تمدن ایلام) is one of the oldest recorded civilizations. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ...

The death penalty was freely awarded for theft, and other crimes regarded as coming under that section: for theft involving entrance of palace or temple treasury, for illegal purchase from minor or slave, for selling stolen goods or receiving the same, for common theft in the open (in default of multiple restoration) or receiving the same, for false claim to goods, for kidnapping, for assisting or harbouring fugitive slaves, for detaining or appropriating same, for brigandage, for fraudulent sale of drink, for disorderly conduct of tavern, for delegation of personal service, for misappropriating the levy, for oppression of feudal holders, for causing death of a householder by bad building. The manner of death is not specified in these cases. Look up fugitive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Brigandage refers to the life and practice of brigands; highway robbery and plunder. ...

This death penalty was also fixed for such conduct as placed another in danger of death. A specified form of death penalty occurs in the following cases: gibbeting (on the spot where crime was committed) for burglary, later also for encroaching on the king's highway, for getting a slave-brand obliterated, for procuring a husband's death; burning for incest with own mother, for a vestal entering or opening a tavern, for theft at fire (on the spot); drowning for adultery, rape of a betrothed maiden, bigamy, bad conduct as wife, seduction of a daughter-in-law. Betrothal is a formal state of engagement to be married. ... A maiden may refer to: A female virgin. ... Polygamy, literally many marriages in ancient Greek, is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). ... // In sociology, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person into an act. ...

A curious extension of the talio is the death of a creditor's son for his father's having caused the death of a debtor's son as mancipium; of a builder's son for his father's causing the death of a house-owner's son by building the house badly; the death of a man's daughter because her father caused the death of another man's daughter.

The contracts naturally do not concern such criminal cases as the above, as a rule, but marriage contracts do specify death by strangling, drowning, precipitation from a tower or pinnacle of the temple, or by the iron sword, for a wife's repudiation of her husband. We are quite without evidence as to the executioner in all these cases.

Exile was inflicted for incest with a daughter; disinheritance for incest with a stepmother, or for repeated unfilial conduct. Sixty strokes of an ox-hide scourge were awarded for a brutal assault on a superior, both being amelu. Branding (perhaps the equivalent of degradation to slavery) was the penalty for slander of a married woman or vestal. Permanent deprivation of office fell upon the corrupt judge. Enslavement befell the extravagant wife and unfilial children. Imprisonment was common, but is not recognized by the Code. Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... A scourge (from the Italian scoriada, ultimately from the Latin excoriare = to flay and corium = skin) is a whip or lash, especially a multi-tong type used in order to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification on the back. ... Branding (from Teutonic brinnan, to burn), in criminal law, is a mode of punishment using a hot iron. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... Slavery is any of a number of related conditions involving control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or other clear forms of coercion. ...

The commonest of all penalties was a fine. This is awarded by the Code for corporal injuries to a muskinu or to a slave (paid to his master); for damages done to property, or for breach of contract. The restoration of goods appropriated, illegally bought, or damaged by neglect, was usually accompanied by a fine, giving it the form of multiple restoration. This might be double, treble, fourfold, fivefold, sixfold, tenfold, twelvefold, even thirtyfold, according to the enormity of the offence. FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks: F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) I International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) N Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!) and E European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) // The aim of FINE is to enable these...

The Code recognized the importance of intent. A man who killed another in a quarrel must swear he did not do so intentionally, and was then only fined according to the rank of the deceased. The Code does not say what would be the penalty of murder, but death is so often awarded where death is caused, that we can hardly doubt that the murderer was put to death. If the assault only led to injury and was unintentional, the assailant in a quarrel had to pay the doctor's fees. A brander, induced to remove a slave's identification mark, could swear to his ignorance and was free. The owner of an ox that gored a man on the street was only responsible for damages if the ox was known by him to be vicious — even if it caused death. If the mancipium died a natural death under the creditor's hand, the creditor was scot-free. In ordinary cases, responsibility was not demanded for accident or for more than proper care. Poverty excused bigamy on the part of a deserted wife. Intent in law is the planning and desire to perform an act. ...

On the other hand, carelessness and neglect were severely punished, as in the case of the unskillful physician, if it led to loss of life or limb, his hands were cut off; a slave had to be replaced, the loss of his eye paid for to half his value; a veterinary surgeon who caused the death of an ox or donkey paid quarter value; a builder, whose careless workmanship caused death, lost his life or paid for it by the death of his child, replaced slave or goods, and in any case had to rebuild the house, or make good any damages due to defective building and repair the defect as well. The boat-builder had to make good any defect of construction or damage due to it for a year's warranty. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Veterinarian. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 For other uses, see Donkey (disambiguation). ... In commercial and consumer transactions, a warranty is an obligation that an article or service sold is as factually stated or legally implied by the seller, and that often provides for a specific remedy such as repair or replacement in the event the article or service fails to meet the...

Throughout the Code, respect is paid to status. Suspicion was not enough. The criminal must be taken in the act, e.g. the adulterer, etc. A man could not be convicted of theft unless the goods were found in his possession.

In the case of a lawsuit, the plaintiff proferred his own plea. There is no trace of professional advocates, but the plea had to be in writing, and the notary doubtless assisted in the drafting of it. The judge saw the plea, called the other parties before him, and sent for the witnesses. If these were not at hand, he might adjourn the case for their subpoena, specifying a time up to six months. Pledges might be entered into to produce the witnesses on a fixed day. A subpoena is a command to appear at a certain time and place to give testimony upon a certain matter. ...

The more important cases, especially those involving life and death, were tried by a bench of judges. With the judges were associated a body of elders who shared in the decision, but whose exact function is not yet clear. Agreements, declarations and non-contentious cases were usually witnessed by one judge and twelve elders.

Parties and witnesses were put on oath. The penalty for false witness was usually what would have been awarded the convicted criminal. In matters beyond the knowledge of men, as the guilt or innocence of an alleged practitioner of magic or a suspected wife, the ordeal by water was used. The accused jumped into the sacred river, and the innocent swam while the guilty drowned. The accused could clear himself by oath where his own knowledge was alone available. The plaintiff could swear to his loss by brigands, as to goods claimed, the price paid for a slave purchased abroad, or the sum due to him. But great stress was laid on the production of written evidence. It was a serious thing to lose a document. The judges might be satisfied of its existence and terms by the affidavit of the witnesses to it, and then issue an order that whenever found it should be given up. Contracts annulled were ordered to be broken. The court might even go on a journey to view the property and take with them the sacred symbols whereby oath was made. John Dee and Edward Kelley evoking a spirit: Elizabethans who claimed magical knowledge A magician is a person skilled in the mysterious and hidden art of magic, which can be described as either the act of entertaining with tricks that are in apparent violation of natural law, such as those... An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the declarant (who is called the affiant), and witnessed (as to the veracity of the affiants signature) by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public. ...

The decision given was embodied in writing, sealed and witnessed by the judges, the elders, witnesses, and a scribe. Women might act in all these capacities. The parties swore an oath, embodied in the document, to observe its stipulations. Each took a copy, and one was held by the scribe to be stored in the archives.

Appeal to the king was allowed and is well attested. The judges at Babylon seem to have formed a superior court to those of provincial towns, but a defendant might elect to answer the charge before the local court, and refuse to plead at Babylon.

Finally, it may be noted that many immoral acts, such as the use of false weights, lying, etc., that could not be brought into court, are severely denounced in the Omen Tablets as likely to bring the offender into "the hand of God" as opposed to "the hand of the king."

Bibliography

Contracts in general: Julius Oppert and Joachim Menant, Documents juridiques de l'Assyrie et de la Chaldée (Paris, 1877) Julius Oppert (July 9, 1825 - August 21, 1905), German Assyriologist, was born at Hamburg, of Jewish parents. ... Joachim Menant (16 April 1820-30 August 1899) was a French magistrate and orientalist He was born at Cherbourg on the 1820. ...

• J Kohler and F. E. Peiser, Aus dem babylonischen Rechtsleben (Leipzig, 1890 if.)
• FE Peiser, Babylonische Vertrage (Berlin, 1890), Keilinschriftliche Actenstücke (Berlin, 1889)
• Bruno Meissner, Beitrage zur altbabylonischen Privatrecht (Leipzig, 1893)
• FE Peiser, Texte juristischen und geschhftlichen Inhalts
• vol. iv. of Schrader's Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek (Berlin, 1896)
• Claude Hermann Walter Johns, Assyrian Deeds and Documents relating to the Transfer of Property (3 vols., Cambridge, 1898)
• H. Radau, Early Babylonian history (New York, 1900)
• CHW Johns, Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters (Edinburgh, 1904).

For editions of texts and the innumerable articles in scientific journals see the bibliographies and references in the above works.

• The Code of Hammurabi, Editio princeps, by Vincent Scheil in tome iv. of the Textes Elamites-Semitiques of the Minjoires de la délégation en Perse (Paris, 1902)
• H Winckler, Die Gesetze Hammurabis Konigs von Babylon um 2250v. Chr. Der alte Orient, iv. Jahrgang, Heft 4
• DH Müller, Die Gesetze Hammurabis (Vienna, 1903)
• J Kohler and FE Peiser, Hammurabis Gesetz (Leipzig, 1904)
• RF Harper, The Code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon about 2250 BC (Chicago, 1904)
• SA Cook, The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi (London, 1903).

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. In classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. ... Father Jean-Vincent Scheil (b. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...