§ 9

Law § 9 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for selling stolen goods with adequate testimony from both the buyer and original owner is execution. The stolen goods and monies must be returned to the original owners.
Translation
If a man whose property is missing has seized his missing property in a(nother) man’s possession, (and) the man in whose possession the missing property was seized has said, “A seller sold to me; I bought before witnesses,” and the owner of the stolen property has said, “Let me produce witnesses who recognize my stolen property,” (and) the buyer has produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought and the owner of the stolen property has produced the witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the judges will consider their words and if the witnesses before whom the purchase was made and the witnesses who recognize the stolen property say what they know before the god then the seller is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the stolen property will receive his stolen property; the buyer will receive the silver he weighed out from the seller’s estate. · ·
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

Cuneiform

Law § 9 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 5, col. VI–VII, lns. 70; 1–47)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum ša mi-im-mu-šu ḫal-qú mi-im-ma-šu ḫal-qá-am i-na qá-ti a-wi-lim iṣ-ṣa-ba-at a-wi-lum ša ḫu-ul-qum i-na qá-ti-šu ṣa-ab-tu na-di-na-nu-um-mi id-di-nam ma-ḫar ši-bi-mi a-ša-am iq-ta-bi ù be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im ši-bi mu-de ḫu-ul-qí-ia-mi lu-ub-lam iq-ta-bi ša-a-a-ma-nu-um na-di-in id-di-nu-šum ù ši-bi ša i-na maḫ-ri-šu-nu i-ša-mu it-ba-lam ù be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im ši-bi mu-de ḫu-ul-qí-šu it-ba-lam da-a-a-nu a-wa-a-ti-šu-nu i-im-ma-ru-ma ši-bu ša maḫ-ri-šu-nu ši-mu-um iš-ša-mu ù ši-bu mu-de ḫu-ul-qí-im mu-du-sú-nu ma-ḫar i-lim i-qá-ab-bu-ma na-di-na-nu-um šar-ra-aq id-da-ak be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im ḫu-lu-uq-šu i-le-qé ša-a-a-ma-nu-um i-na bi-it na-di-na-nim KUG.BABBAR iš-qú-lu i-le-qé

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 382)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ša mimmûšu ḫalqu mimmâšu ḫalqam ina qāti/qātī awīlim iṣṣabat, awīlum ša ḫulqum ina qātīšu ṣabtu "nādinānum-mi iddinam; maḫar šībī-mi ašām" iqtabi, u bēl ḫulqim "šībī mūde ḫulqīyā-mi lublam" iqtabi, šayyāmānum nādin iddinūšum u šībī ša ina maḫrīšunu išāmu itbalam u bēl ḫulqim šībī mūde ḫulqīšu itbalam, dayyānū awâtīšunu immarū-ma šībū ša maḫrīšunu šīmum iššāmu u šībū mūde ḫulqim mūdûssunu maḫar ilim iqabbû-ma nādinānum šarrāq; iddâk; bēl ḫulqim ḫuluqšu ileqqe; šayyāmānum ina bīt nādinānim kasap išqulu ileqqe.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Translation

If a man whose property is missing has seized his missing property in a(nother) man’s possession, (and) the man in whose possession the missing property was seized has said, “A seller sold to me; I bought before witnesses,” and the owner of the stolen property has said, “Let me produce witnesses who recognize my stolen property,” (and) the buyer has produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought and the owner of the stolen property has produced the witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the judges will consider their words and if the witnesses before whom the purchase was made and the witnesses who recognize the stolen property say what they know before the god then the seller is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the stolen property will receive his stolen property; the buyer will receive the silver he weighed out from the seller’s estate.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

LawgicSnifferSM

Logic Map for § 9

#
Steps
Law Text
  • 1 If
  • 2
  • 3 a man whose property is missing
  • 4 has seized his missing property in
  • 5 a(nother) man’s possession,
  • 6
  • 7 (and)
  • 8
  • 9 the man in whose possession the missing property was seized
  • 10 has said,
  • 11 "A seller
  • 12 sold
  • 13 to me;
  • 14 I
  • 15 bought
  • 16 before witnesses,”
  • 17
  • 18 and
  • 19
  • 20 the owner of the stolen property
  • 21 has said, “Let me produce
  • 22 witnesses who recognize my stolen property,”
  • 23
  • 24 (and)
  • 25
  • 26 the buyer
  • 27 has produced
  • 28 the seller who sold to him
  • 29 and
  • 30 the witnesses before whom he bought
  • 31
  • 32 and
  • 33
  • 34 the owner of the stolen property
  • 35 has produced
  • 36 the witnesses who recognize his stolen property,
  • 37
  • 38 (then)
  • 39
  • 40 the judges
  • 41 will consider their words
  • 42
  • 43 and
  • 44 if
  • 45
  • 46 the witnesses before whom the purchase was made
  • 47 and
  • 48 the witnesses who recognize the stolen property
  • 49 say what they know before the god
  • 50
  • 51 then
  • 52
  • 53 the seller
  • 54 is a thief;
  • 55 and
  • 56 he
  • 57 will be executed;
  • 58
  • 59 (and)
  • 60
  • 61 the owner of the stolen property
  • 62 will receive his stolen property;
  • 63
  • 64 (and)
  • 65
  • 66 the buyer
  • 67 will receive the silver he weighed out from
  • 68 the seller’s estate.
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73

GrammarSnifferSM

Akkadian Words in Law § 9

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

awīlum (Noun form) Masculine Singular Nominative of awīlu "man"

ša (relative Particle) "(introduces relative clause or epithet); who, whom; s/he who"

ina (Preposition) "in, on, onto"

awīlim (Noun form) Masculine Singular Genitive of awīlu "man"

awīlum (Noun form) Masculine Singular Nominative of awīlu "man"

ša (relative Particle) "(introduces relative clause or epithet); who, whom; s/he who"

ina (Preposition) "in, on, onto"

u (Conjunction)

u (Conjunction)

ša (relative Particle) "(introduces relative clause or epithet); who, whom; s/he who"

ina (Preposition) "in, on, onto"

iddâk (N-Stem Durative Verb form) 3rd Person Common Singular of dâku "to kill"

ina (Preposition) "in, on, onto"

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 9 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 24 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/9. [Accessed 5 May. 2024]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 24). § 9 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/9

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 9 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 24, 2023. Modified April 25, 2024. Accessed May 5, 2024. https://ehlaw.org/law/9.

CMS 16

Bibliography

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

ACH

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

CHTP

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

HKEY3

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

–

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

RHL

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

SoT

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol commonly denotes "a shorthand notation for the word 'section'."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Cuneiform commonly means "an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Normalization commonly means "the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Translation commonly means "the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Transliteration commonly means "the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another."

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