THE HITTITE LAWS So long ago as i go7 excavations near the Turkish village of Boghaz-Keui, about gom. east of Angora, lighted upon a great collection of clay tablets inscribed in cuneiform with a multitude of historical, religious, and political documents drawn up either in Babylonian or in one of several native languages, and dating from the i4th or early i 3 th century before the Christian era. Among these tablets were found two large and several smaller pieces which proved to contain laws written in the chief native language of the kingdom. Most of the difficulties of this language have lately been overcome, and the contents of the Hittite laws are now disclosed. Though belonging to a different culture, they were framed by a society closely in touch with Mesopotamia, and at a time shortly before the rise of Assyria to importance, so that some notice of them is indispensable.
The most striking peculiarity of the Hittite laws is their overt references to revision. In several cases it is said that "formerly" such-and-such was the practice, but "now" it has been altered. Occasionally it is custom which is thus modified, but more often it is an earlier recension of the law, as when the restitution for theft of cattle is reduced, or the considerations which determine whether there has been misappropriation of prop erty are simplified. In general, the revised state of the law ex hibits much milder provisions than the former.
The existing laws by no means cover all, or even the most important, relations with which a code might be expected to concern itself. Indeed there is no reference to such sub jects as marriage, sale, heredity, oz contract; the state of custom with respect to these is indicated only by directions aimed at avoiding disputes in connection with them. The chief purpose of these laws seems to be the maintenance of order, and there fore a good deal of their contents is occupied by exhaustive tariffs of fines or restorations after theft, and even of the fixed prices for land, animals, metals, food, and clothing. It is known that the Hittite rule extended at this period over many peoples different in race, language, and customs, for which the law con sequently does not attempt to prescribe as it might in the case of a homogeneous population. The almost exclusively agricul tural character of the subjects is revealed by the prominence of such topics in the laws; there is only one mention of merchants and only a few of craftsmen.
Property was completely private. In order to be formally recognized, a piece of real estate had to be solemnly put under the protection of the gods, and any new acquisition of the prop erty required a further sacrifice. Several enactments are devoted to the conduct of fiefs granted to soldiers (and also to priests and weavers) by the king as maintenance. In the soldier's ab sence at the wars a civilian was detailed to cultivate his farm and furnish the dues which were attached to it. Should the soldier die the civilian could enlist in his place. Conversely, if the civilian died, the soldier could take up the fief and its dues, and put in a manager of his own. Sometimes the soldier took a partner, working the land and sharing in the produce. In the event of a quarrel and dissolution of partnership the associate was entitled to a definite, though smaller, share of the property.
The population was divided into free and slaves only. Mar riage between two free persons was preceded by the giving of betrothal presents to the girl. If she changed her mind these had to be repaid ; if the man did so he lost his money. The two kinds of marriage, according as the woman remains at home or goes to live with her husband, are recognized by Hittite as by Assyrian law. When the marriage was between slaves, or mixed, no betrothal presents were given. But if a slave made these gifts to a free woman, by accepting them she became a slave too. The levirate marriage was customary with the Hittites ; a brother (or, if none, a father) must marry the deceased brother's wife. The husband had power of life and death over an adul terous wife, and the father might disinherit a son, but it was required that the son's misconduct should have been repeated. A picturesque custom was observed in these cases; the mother put the son's clothing outside the house to signify his banishment. If he was to be received back, the son carried out certain articles of furniture, which the mother then took back to their place.
That the person of a debtor might be taken as security for a debt is to be gathered from the rule that a third party might effect the release of such a one at the New Year by furnishing a substitute. As to other matters of contract the only indica tions are the very exhaustive tariffs for sale of animals (mules were dearest), skins, and garments, and for hire of animals, utensils, and craftsmen.
Most of the Hittite code is concerned with penal regulations, governing such offences as murder, assault, abortion, incest, sodomy, kidnapping, theft, and damage. Private revenge is allowed only in the case of an adulterous wife. The public pen alties were death, forced labour, imprisonment, and facial muti lation, but the lex talionis is not in force. Death is inflicted only in the very moderate number of eight instances, forced labour for misappropriation of property, mutilation only upon slaves guilty of theft or arson. In general the sanctions are distinctly less severe than in either the Babylonian or the Assyrian laws.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Sumerian laws: S. Langdon, "Code of Hammurabi Bibliography.—Sumerian laws: S. Langdon, "Code of Hammurabi and contracts," Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 489 ff. (1920) ; C. H. W. Johns, The Laws of Babylonia and Laws of the Hebrew Peoples (1912 ; very full bibl. of literature to date) ; V. Scheil, Revue d'Assyriologie, xiii., 49 ff. (new fragments of the Code) ; Koh ler, Ungnad, Peiser, and Koschaker, Hammurabis Gesetz, vols. i.–vi. (1904-1923). For the results of recent studies on particular points see Koschaker's articles in Ebert, Reallexikon d. Vorgeschichte under the several headings.
Assyrian laws: Text in Schroeder, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur Ver schiedenen Inhalts, trans. by Scheil, Recueil de lois assyriennes (1921) ; Ehelolf, Ein altassyrisches Rechtsbuch (192 2) ; Jastrow in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. li., pp. 1-59. See also E. Cuq in Revue d'Assyriologie, xix., pp. 45 ff., and Koschaker, Quellenkritische Untersuchungen zu den altassyr. Gesetzen (1921) .
Hittite laws: Texts in Hrozny, Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazkoi, Heft (1921) ; trans. Hrozny Code hittite (1922) and Zimmern and Fried rich, Hethitische Gesetz (1922) ; a full analysis of contents by E. Cuq in Revue historique de droit francais et etranger, pp. (C. J. G.)