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Hittite Law of Adultery

Carved Gate Lion

Hattusa Museum cuneiform tablet
Hattusa Museum cuneiform tablet

The Hittites were a literate culture and we have found and translated many of their records and literary pieces. These libraries of clay tablets were written in the Near Eastern cuneiform script although Hittite is an Indo-European language related to Greek. From all the hard work of archaeologists, scholars and translators, I bring you two Hittite laws regarding rape and adultery, translated by Harry Hoffner, Jr. Notice what these laws say about women, men, fairness, and other intriguing issues.

Law 197

If a man seizes a woman in the mountain(s) (and rapes her), it is the man’s offence, and he shall be put to death, but if he seizes her in (her) house, it is the woman’s offence: the woman shall be put to death. If the (woman’s) husband (lit. the man) finds them (in the act) and kills them, he has committed no offence.

Law 198

If [the husband] brings them [his wife and accused lover] to the palace gate (i.e. the royal court) and says: “let my wife not be put to death” and spares his wife, he must also spare the lover. Then he may veil her (i.e. his wife). But if he says, “Let both of them be put to death” and they ‘roll the wheel’ the king may have them killed or spare them.

I enjoyed this precise window into the human mind and values in about 1300 BCE.

First, I notice that if a man rapes a woman, the penalty is extreme and this speaks of value placed on a woman. Hittite law avoids the death penalty, so it’s pretty dramatic here and may not have been the actual course of action.

We are struggling in modern society with date rape and defining when to prosecute. I wouldn’t want to adopt the Hittite measure of rape, but I am intrigued to find the traces of a similar struggle. If you are “at home” you invited it, by Hittite standards—this presumes the family’s ability to protect its women in the usual course of events, I suspect. Far from home, where a woman is vulnerable, it is indisputably rape.

Gates of the City of Hattusa
Gates of the City of Hattusa, Lion Gate close up at top

As has often been the case in history, a man can, with impunity, kill his wife and her lover if he catches them in the act. But notice he cannot kill only the man. And if he turns it over to the authorities (the King’s court held at the gates of the city), he must accept the same punishment for both wife and her accused lover. And if he accepts her back, he must publicly restore her respect and reputation by veiling her—that is restoring her as his bride.

We would love to know exactly what “roll the wheel” meant, but we don’t. It refers to a divination of some sort. Hittites loved divination. They put great effort toward discerning the will of the gods. Murder, divination and other applications from this system of laws appear in my Hittite-inspired fantasies.

My source for the translation and interpretation of these Hittite laws is:

The Laws of the Hittites A Critical Edition, Harry Hoffner Jr. Brill 1997

Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui (DMOA) Studies in Near Eastern Archaeology and Civilisation Volume XXIII