People / group
Awīlum
In the Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian legal text composed about 1753 BCE, the awīlum was one of three main kinds of person, beside the muškēnum and the slave. The meaning is contested, but the word probably denoted a male member of the higher social class, something like a "gentleman". Under law 215 a physician who healed an awīlum by major surgery took a fee of ten shekels of silver; under law 218 he lost his hand if the patient died. Laws 200 and 202 show that one awīlum could rank above another.
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Awīlum. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/awilum
- MLA
- “Awīlum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/awilum. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Awīlum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/awilum.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Awīlum’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/awilum (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻