§ 108

Law § 108 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for overcharging for beer is the river challenge.
Translation
If instead of grain a brewer has accepted silver weighed with a large weight-stone for the price of drink, thus making the price of the drink less than the price of the grain, they shall prove that brewer guilty and throw her into the water.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Selling Alcohol

Cuneiform

Law § 108 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 13, col. R II, lns. 15–25)

Transliteration

šum-ma ŠAL.GEŠ.TIN.NA a-na šîm šikarim šeʾam la im-ta-ḫar i-na abnim ra-bi-tim kaspam im-ta-ḫar u KI.LAM šikarim a-na KI.LAM šeʾim um-ta-di ŠAL.GEŠ.TIN.NA šu-a-ti u-ka-an-nu-ši-ma a-na me-e i-na-[ad]-du-u-ši

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 54)

Normalization

šumma sābītum ana šīm šikarim šeʾam la imtaḫar, ina abnim rabītim kaspam imtaḫar u maḫīr šikarim ana maḫīr šeʾim umtaṭṭi, sābītam šuāti ukannūšima220 ana mê inaddûši..

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 74)

Translation

If instead of grain a brewer has accepted silver weighed with a large weight-stone for the price of drink, thus making the price of the drink less than the price of the grain, they shall prove that brewer guilty and throw her into the water.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 75)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 108 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 29 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/108. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 29). § 108 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/108

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 108 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 29, 2023. Modified December 22, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/108.

Bibliography

ACH

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

CHTP

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

HAG3

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

HKEY3

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

–

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

RHL

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

SoT

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

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol is a shorthand notation for the word 'section'.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Normalization is the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Translation is the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Transliteration is the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another.

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