§ 26

Law § 26 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for hiring a military service replacement person is execution and loss of property to said replacement person.
Translation
If either a footsoldier or a “fisherman” whose going on a royal campaign was commanded did not go, or hired a hireling and has sent (him as) his substitute, said footsoldier or “fisherman” will be executed; his denouncer will take his estate for himself.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Obligations

Cuneiform

Law § 26 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 7, col. IX–X, lns. 66–69; 1–12)

Transliteration

šum-ma lu AGA.ÚS ù lu ŠU.ḪA ša a-na ḫar-ra-an šar-ri-im a-la-ak-šu qá-bu-ú la il-li-ik ù lu lúagram(ḪUN.GÁ) i-gur-ma pu-úḫ-šu iṭ-ṭa-ra-ad lu AGA.ÚS ù lu ŠU.ḪA šu-ú id-da-ak mu-na-ag-ge-er-šu É-sú i-tab-ba-al

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 229)

Normalization

šumma lū rēdûm ū lū bāʾerum ša ana ḫarrān šarrim alākšu qabû lā illik ū lū agram īgur-ma pūḫšu iṭṭarad lū rēdûm ū lū bāʾerum šū iddâk munaggeršu bīssu itabbal.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 50)

Translation

If either a footsoldier or a “fisherman” whose going on a royal campaign was commanded did not go, or hired a hireling and has sent (him as) his substitute, said footsoldier or “fisherman” will be executed; his denouncer will take his estate for himself.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 50)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 26 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 25 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/26. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 25). § 26 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/26

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 26 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 25, 2023. Modified January 2, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/26.

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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