Middle Assyrian Laws

Historical source page 56

An Assyrian Law Code 55 cut off; he receives 100 blows 21 and he must perform one month's royal service. 9 If a man removes a 'small' 22 boundary of an enclosure, 23 they seize him and determine his guilt. He must hand over one talent of lead and restore three times 24 as much of the field as he ex- tended. He receives 50 blows and must perform one month's royal service. 10 If a man in a field that is not his digs a well and makes a trench (?) 25 (and) seizes 26 the trench for his well, he receives 30 blows and [he must perform] 20 days royal service. (Of the balance of the law only the beginnings of the lines are preserved.) 11 (Of this law only the beginnings of the last 12 lines are pre- served. It deals with a field, which is shared with an ummidnu — apparently a partner as in No. 1, § 38 [col. 5. 29].) 12 If a man in a field [which 27 ] lays out an orchard (and) [digs] 28 a well, (and) the owner of the field sees 21 The highest number of blows named in the Code. The severity of the punishment shows how seriously this crime was viewed. In view of the frequent denunciation in the Old Testament of those who remove boundaries (e. g., Hos. 5. 10; cf. Deut. 27. 17; Prov. 22. 28), this law of the Assyrian Code is particularly interesting. 22 I. e., only takes a small piece of land away from his neighbor. See note 18 above. 23 a-bu-ra-a-ni, from abaru, 'enclosure' (Muss-Arnolt, Assyrian Dictionary, p. 9b. 24 So read according to Schroeder's errata to his edition (p. xxviii). 26 du-un-na, used for a 'couch' or 'bed', (Muss-Arnolt Assyrian Dictionary, p. 259b), but here would appear to designate a trench into which the water of the well is allowed to flow. 26 ka-a-su e-li, 'he lays his hand', here (as above, § 6, note 12), in the sense of illegally using the trench to fill his well. 27 The ends of the lines in this law are broken off. Evidently the man had no control over the field, but exactly in what relation he stood to it is a matter of conjecture. Perhaps we are to complete the line to Id-a [a-na za-lfa-pi], 'a field which was taken for cultivation'. Cf. Hammurabi Code, §§ 60-61. u ib-ri to be supplied as above.