§ 237

Law § 237 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man has hired a boatman or a boat and has stowed it with grain, wool, oil, dates or some other cargo, but that boatman has been careless and has sunk the boat and completely lost what was in it, the boatman shall make repayment for the boat that he sank and for whatever was in it that he lost.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Compensation and Fees

Cuneiform

Law § 237 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 29, col. R XX, lns. 38–55)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum malaḫam u elippam i-gur-ma šeʾam šipâtam šamnam suluppam u mi-im-ma šum-šu ša ṣi-nim i-ṣi-en-ši malaḫum šu-u i-gi-ma elippam ut-te-ib-bi u ša li-ib-bi-ša uḫ-ta-al-li-iḳ malaḫum elippam ša u-te-ib-bu-u u mi-im-ma ša i-na li-ib-bi-ša u-ḫal-li-ḳu i-ri-a-ab

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 96)

Normalization

šumma awīlum malāḫam u eleppam īgurma šeʾam šipātim šamnam suluppī u mimma šumšu ša ṣênim iṣēnši malāḫum šû īgīma eleppam uṭṭebbi u ša libbiša uḫtalliq, malāḫum eleppam ša uṭebbû u mimma ša ina libbiša uḫalliqu iriab.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 108)

Translation

If a man has hired a boatman or a boat and has stowed it with grain, wool, oil, dates or some other cargo, but that boatman has been careless and has sunk the boat and completely lost what was in it, the boatman shall make repayment for the boat that he sank and for whatever was in it that he lost.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 109)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 237 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 6 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/237. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 6). § 237 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/237

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 237 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 6, 2023. Modified January 12, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/237.

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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