§ 120

Law § 120 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man stored his grain as silage in a(nother) man’s establishment and a deficit occurred in the storeroom, (and) either the owner of the establishment opened the granary and took the grain or he denied completely that the grain had been stored in his establishment, the owner of the grain will certify his grain before the god, and the owner of the establishment will give the owner of the grain twice the grain he received.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Other Peoples' Property

Cuneiform

Law § 120 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 14, col. R IV, lns. 4–23)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum ŠE-šu a-na na-aš-pa-ku-tim i-na É a-wi-lim(! LUM) iš-pu-uk-ma i-na qá-ri-tim i-ib-bu-ú-um it-tab-ši ù lu be-el É na-aš-pa-kam ip-te-ma ŠE il-qé ù lu ŠE ša i-na É-šu iš-ša-ap-ku a-na ga-am-ri-im it-ta-ki-ir be-el ŠE ma-ḫar i-lim ŠE-šu ú-ba-ar-ma be-el É ŠE ša il-qú-ú uš-ta-ša-na-ma a-na be-el ŠE i-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 441)

Normalization

šumma awīlum âšu ana našpakūtim ina bīt awīlim išpuk-ma ina qarītim ibbûm ittabši ū lū bēl bītim našpakam iptē-ma âm ilqe ū lū âm ša ina bītīšu iššapku ana gamrim ittakir, bēl êm maḫar ilim âšu ubār-ma bēl bītim âm ša ilqû uštašannā-ma ana bēl êm inaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 123)

Translation

If a man stored his grain as silage in a(nother) man’s establishment and a deficit occurred in the storeroom, (and) either the owner of the establishment opened the granary and took the grain or he denied completely that the grain had been stored in his establishment, the owner of the grain will certify his grain before the god, and the owner of the establishment will give the owner of the grain twice the grain he received.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 123)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 120 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 1 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/120. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 1). § 120 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/120

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 120 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 1, 2023. Modified December 25, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/120.

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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