§ 23

Law § 23 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the remedy for victims of robbery is replacement of missing property by the regional representative.
Translation
If the robber has not been caught, the robbed man will establish his missing property before the god and the town and mayor in whose region and district the robbery was committed will replace his missing property for him.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

Cuneiform

Law § 23 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 6, col. IX, lns. 28–45)

Transliteration

šum-ma ḫa-ab-ba-tum la it-ta-aṣ-ba-at a-wi-lum ḫa-ab-tum mi-im-ma-šu ḫal-qá-am ma-ḫa-ar i-lim ú-ba-ar-ma URU ù ra-bi-a-nu-um ša i-na er-ṣe-ti-šu-nu ù pa-ṭi-šu-nu ḫu-ub-tum iḫ-ḫa-ab-tu mi-im-ma-šu ḫal-qá-am i-ri-a-ab-bu-šum

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 367)

Normalization

šumma ḫabbātum lā ittaṣbat, awīlum ḫabtum mimmâšu ḫalqam maḫar ilim ubār-ma ālum u rabiānum ša ina erṣetīšunu u pāṭīšunu ḫubtum iḫḫabtu mimmâšu ḫalqam iribbūšum.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 93)

Translation

If the robber has not been caught, the robbed man will establish his missing property before the god and the town and mayor in whose region and district the robbery was committed will replace his missing property for him.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 93)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 23 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 25 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/23. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 25). § 23 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/23

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 23 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 25, 2023. Modified December 16, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/23.

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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