§ 203

Law § 203 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for punching a man of similar social status in the face is roughly one pound of silver.
Translation
If one man has struck the cheek of another such man of similar status, he shall pay one mana of silver.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Assault

Cuneiform

Law § 203 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 26–27, col. R XVII, lns. 82–87)

Transliteration

šum-ma mâr a-wi-lim li-e-it mâr a-wi-lim ša ki-ma šu-a-ti im-ta-ḫa-as I ma-na kaspim i-ša-kal

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 87)

Normalization

šumma mār awīlim lēt mār awīlim ša kīma šuāti imtaḫaṣ 1 mana kaspam išaqqal.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 104)

Translation

If one man has struck the cheek of another such man of similar status, he shall pay one mana of silver.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 105)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 203 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 5 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/203. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 5). § 203 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/203

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 203 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 5, 2023. Modified January 5, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/203.

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'.

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

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

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

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

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

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

Read more

eHammurabi Glossary

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

Read more