Wine and Beer in the Daily Life and Religion of the Ancient Orientals. 129 



formation, ship the barley (?)-beer to Sippar-Yahrurum. Re- 

 garding the barley to be given to the taverners, about which 

 you have written unto me (I reply): It has been ordered (that) 

 they shall give the barley in Sippar to the taverners." The second 

 paragraph prohibits riotous gatherings in public drinking places 

 and fixes the deathpenalty on the innkeeper in case she does not 

 cause the arrest of the outlaws, "If outlaws collect in the house of 

 the liquor dealer, and she does not arrest these outlaws and 

 bring them to the palace, that liquor dealer shall be put to 

 death" 1. The tavern, thus, was a favorite haunt for all kind 

 of rabble that shunned the light. It was a breeding-place for 

 all kinds of crime and the best way for the state to pro- 

 tect itself and its citizens was the imposition of a severe pu- 

 nishment on the innkeeper herself It would be interesting 

 to know how this law worked in actual practice. The inn- 

 keeper certainly was immensely concerned to keep order 

 and not to allow outlaws to make her house a meetingplace 

 or a place of refuge. According to the verbal form employed 

 in the paragraph it would seem that the innkeeper had the 

 power of arrest in her own hands, for otherwise we should 

 expect the causative form, "cause them to be arrested", and, 

 "cause them to be brought". The next paragraph ( lio, 

 Col. XVIII, lines 3644) provides for the punishment on the 

 stake, in case a vestal virgin leaves her house to open 

 a wine-shop or to frequent it for strong drink. It reads: "If 

 a votary, who is not living in a cloister open a tavern, or 

 enter a tavern for a strong drink, they shall burn that 

 woman" 2. Only two cases are mentioned in the Code of 

 Hammurabi, in which the horrible punishment of death by 

 burning is ordered. The one referred to above, and the 

 other in 157, dealing with the heinous crime of incest of 

 mother and son. The last paragraph ( 111, Col. XVIII, 

 lines 45 49) regulates the price of liquor sold on time 

 payment. "If a liquor dealer", it states, "give one pi/m-dr'mk 



i) summa ^'hdbUum sarrutum ina biti-sa itiarkasu-ma sarrutim sunuti Id 

 issabtam-ma ana ekallim Id irdiam s ilsdbitum si-i iddak. 



2) summa nat'itum entum sa ina gdghn lA wasbat bit s&bi iptete u lu 

 ana sikarim ana bit sd/n itertib aiuiltam sttdti iqalluH. 



Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing. 9 



