§ 10

Law § 10 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for holding stolen property without witnesses includes returning said property and execution.
Translation
If the buyer has not produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought, but the owner of the stolen property has produced witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the buyer is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the property will receive his stolen property.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

Cuneiform

Law § 10 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 5, col. VII, lns. 48–61)

Transliteration

šum-ma 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 la it-ba-lam be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im-ma ši-bi mu-de ḫu-ul-qí-šu it-ba-lam ša-a-a-ma-nu-um šar-ra-aq id-da-ak be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im ḫu-lu-uq-šu i-le-qé

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 382)

Normalization

šumma šayyāmānum nādin iddinūšum u šībī ša ina maḫrīšunu išāmu lā itbalam, bēl ḫulqim-ma šībī mūde ḫulqīšu itbalam, šayyāmānum šarrāq iddâk; bēl ḫulqim ḫuluqšu ileqqe.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Translation

If the buyer has not produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought, but the owner of the stolen property has produced witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the buyer is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the property will receive his stolen property.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 10 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 24 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/10. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 24). § 10 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/10

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 10 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 24, 2023. Modified December 15, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/10.

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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