Hittite law

Hittite law is a collection of legal provisions preserved on cuneiform tablets from the Hittite kingdom. Its rules address matters including property, family, labor, injury, and compensation.

Hittite Empire: An ancient Anatolian kingdom that flourished during the second millennium BCE and rivaled Egypt and Assyria. The kingdom supplied the political setting in which these legal provisions were compiled and copied.
Hittite legal procedure: The practices through which disputes and accusations were handled in Hittite society. Procedure helps explain how written provisions could be applied to actual disputes.
Hittite law of homicide: The Hittite legal provisions governing killing and the obligations imposed on perpetrators. Homicide rules illustrate how the laws connect injury, responsibility, and compensation.
Hittite legal texts: Cuneiform documents from the Hittite kingdom that record laws, treaties, decrees, and legal transactions. The laws form one distinctive group within a wider documentary record.
Code of Hammurabi: A Babylonian collection of royal legal decisions promulgated under Hammurabi in the eighteenth century BCE. Its monumental presentation invites comparison with the Hittite collection’s tablet-based revisions.
Hittite language: An Indo-European language recorded in cuneiform and among the earliest written Indo-European languages. Its wording underlies the surviving legal texts and their modern interpretation.
Restitution: The restoration or replacement of property or value taken or damaged through a wrongful act. Many provisions set compensation in place of, or alongside, punishment.
Hittite laws on theft: Provisions in the Hittite laws addressing theft and the repayment or penalty it required. Theft clauses show how liability could depend on the object and circumstances.
Hittite law tablets: Clay tablet copies preserving the Hittite legal provisions, including versions and fragments found at Hattusa. The physical witnesses show how the collection survives and how its text was transmitted.
Middle Assyrian Laws: A collection of legal provisions from the Middle Assyrian period, preserved on cuneiform tablets. Their neighboring legal tradition offers a contrast in penalties and social regulation.

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