§ 16

Law § 16 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for hiding missing slaves upon notice is execution.
Translation
If a man has hidden in his house a slave or slave-girl who has disappeared from the temple or from a workman and does not produce them when the alarm is raised, the owner of that house shall be killed.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

Cuneiform

Law § 16 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 6, col. VIII, lns. 37–48)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum lu wardam lu amtam ḫal-ga-am ša êkallim u lu MAŠ.EN.KAK i-na bi-ti-šu ir-ta-ki-ma a-na ši-si-it na-gi-ri-im la uš-te-zi-a-am be-el bîtim šu-u id-da-ak

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 32)

Normalization

šumma awīlum lu wardam lu amtam ḫalqam ša ekallim u lu muškēnim ina bītišu irtaqīma ana šisīt nāgirim la ušteṣiam, bēl bītim šû iddâk.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 46)

Translation

If a man has hidden in his house a slave or slave-girl who has disappeared from the temple or from a workman and does not produce them when the alarm is raised, the owner of that house shall be killed.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 47)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 16 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 10 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/16. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 10). § 16 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/16

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 16 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 10, 2023. Modified January 25, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/16.

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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