§ 253

Law § 253 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man hired a man to oversee his field and entrusted him with a store of barley (or) provided him with cattle (or) contracted with him to cultivate the field, if that man stole seed or fodder and it has been caught in his possession, his hand will be cut off.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Labor, Equipment, Fees

Cuneiform

Law § 253 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 30, col. R XX1, lns. 69–82)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum a-wi-lam a-na pa-ni A.ŠÀ-šu ú-zu-uz-zi-im i-gur-ma aldâm(AL.DÙ.A-am) [i]-qí-ip-šu [ÁB].GUD.ḪI.A ip-qí-súm [a-na] A.ŠÀ e-re-ši-im ú-ra-ak-ki-sú [šu]m-ma a-wi-lum šu-ú ŠE.NUMUN ù lu ukullâm(ŠÀ.GAL) iš-ri-iq-ma i-na qá-ti-šu it-ta-aṣ-ba-at ritta (KIŠIB.LÂ)-šu i-na-ak-ki-su

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 454)

Normalization

šumma awīlum awīlam ana pānī eqlīšu uzuzzim īgur-ma aldâm [i]qīpšu [l]iātim ipqissum [ana] eqlim erēšim urakkissu, [šu]mma awīlum šū zēram ū lū ukullâm išriq-ma ina qātīšu ittaṣbat, rittašu inakkisū.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 129)

Translation

If a man hired a man to oversee his field and entrusted him with a store of barley (or) provided him with cattle (or) contracted with him to cultivate the field, if that man stole seed or fodder and it has been caught in his possession, his hand will be cut off.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 129)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 253 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 6 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/253. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 6). § 253 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/253

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 253 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 6, 2023. Modified January 14, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/253.

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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