BABYLON AND PERSIA

254 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.containing a rudimentary attempt at a penal legis¬lation.1st,A son is forbidden to deny his duty to hisfather, under penalty of being reduced to servitudeand sold as a slave :" When a son to his father ' myfather thou art not ' has said, the nails he shall cuthim,* . . . for money he shall sell him."2d. For the same offence against his mother, ason, besides being enslaved and expelled from thehouse, is exposed in the middle of the town (proba¬bly pilloried).3d. If a husband ill-treats his wife so that shedenies him, heis to be thrown into the river,whether to die, or only undergo an ordeal, a punish¬ment, is not specified : " When a wife, her htisbandhaving done wrong to her, ' my Imsband not tliou art 'has said, in the river they place him."4th." When a husband ' my ivife not tliou art 'has said, {i. e., refuses her her rights), half a maneJiof silver he iveighs."This clause probably answers to our provision of" alimony to be paid by the husband to his desertedor injured wife.There are also penalties against thefather and the mother who deny their son.Lastly, if a man ill-uses a slave whom he hashired from another, so that the slave dies, or if theslave runs away, breaks down from exhaustion or* " Long n.ails," remarks Mr. George Berlin, who, it should beremembered, is responsible for the translation, " seem therefore tohave been the mark of freedom, as long hair and beard were amongthe Semites.The slaves and people of low condition are alwaysrepresented on the bas reliefs as shaved."