Library of Ancient Inscriptions Babylonian And Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters By C. H. W. Johns, M.A. Lecturer in Queens’ College, Cambridge, and King’s College, London New York Charles Scribner’s Sons 1904 CONTENTS Dedication Preface List Of Abbreviations Sources And Bibliography Laws And Contracts I. The Earliest Babylonian Laws II. The Code Of Ḥammurabi III. Later Babylonian Law IV. The Social Organization Of The Ancient Babylonian State V. Judges, Law-Courts, And Legal Processes VI. Legal Decisions VII. Public Rights VIII. Criminal Law IX. The Family Organization X. Courtship And Marriage XI. Divorce And Desertion XII. Rights Of Widows XIII. Obligations And Rights Of Children XIV. The Education And Early Life Of Children XV. Adoption XVI. Rights Of Inheritance XVII. Slavery XVIII. Land Tenure In Babylonia XIX. The Army, _Corvée_, And Other Claims For Personal Service XX. The Functions And Organization Of The Temple XXI. Donations And Bequests XXII. Sales XXIII. Loans And Deposits XXIV. Pledges And Guarantees XXV. Wages Of Hired Laborers XXVI. Lease Of Property XXVII. The Laws Of Trade XXVIII. Partnership And Power Of Attorney XXIX. Accounts And Business Documents Babylonian And Assyrian Letters I. Letters And Letter-Writing Among The Babylonians And Assyrians II. The Letters Of Ḥammurabi III. The Letters Of Samsu-Iluna And His Immediate Successors IV. Private Letters Of The First Dynasty Of Babylon V. Sennacherib’s Letters To His Father, Sargon VI. Letters From The Last Year Of Shamash-Shum-Ukîn VII. Letters Regarding Affairs In Southern Babylonia Letters About Elam And Southern Babylonia IX. Miscellaneous Assyrian Letters X. Letters Of The Second Babylonian Empire Appendix I. The Prologue And Epilogue To The Code Of Ḥammurabi II. Chronology III. Weights And Measures IV. Bibliography Of The Later Periods Index Footnotes DEDICATION To My Mother In Memory Of Loving Help PREFACE The social institutions, manners, and customs of an ancient people must always be of deep interest for all those to whom nothing is indifferent that is human. But even for modern thinkers, engrossed in the practical problems of our advanced civilization, the records of antiquity have a direct value. We are better able to deal with the complicated questions of the day if we are acquainted with the simpler issues of the past. We may not set them aside as too remote to have any influence upon us. Not long ago men looked to Greece and Rome for political models. We can hardly estimate the influence which that following of antiquity has had upon our own social life.