§ 209

Law § 209 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the penalty for striking a man's daughter and causing her to have a miscarriage is ten shekels of silver.
Translation
If a man struck a man’s daughter and has caused her to have a miscarriage, he will weigh out ten shekels of silver for her foetus [sic].
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Assault

Cuneiform

Law § 209 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 27, col. R XVIII, lns. 23–30)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum DUMU.MUNUS a-wi-lim im-ḫa-aṣ-ma ša li-ib-bi-ša uš-ta-di-ši 10 GÍN KUG.BABBAR a-na ša li-ib-bi-ša i-ša-qal

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 351)

Normalization

šumma awīlum mārat awīlim imḫaṣ-ma ša libbīša uštaddīši, ešret šiqil kaspam ana ša libbīša išaqqal.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 88)

Translation

If a man struck a man’s daughter and has caused her to have a miscarriage, he will weigh out ten shekels of silver for her foetus [sic].

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 89)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 209 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 5 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/209. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 5). § 209 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/209

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 209 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 5, 2023. Modified February 19, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/209.

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