§ 280

Law § 280 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man has bought a man’s male or female slave in a foreign country, (and) when he has come into the country, the owner of the male or female slave has recognized his male or female slave, if those male or female slave(s) are natives of the country, their freedom will be established without any silver.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Labor, Equipment, Fees

Cuneiform

Law § 280 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 32, col. R XXIII, lns. 72–87)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum i-na ma-at nu-ku-úr-tim ÌR GEME2 ša a-wi-lim iš-ta-am i-nu-ma i-na li-ib-bu KALAM it-ta-al-kam-ma be-el ÌR ù lu GEME2 lu ÌR-sú ù lu GEME2-sú ú-te-ed-di šum-ma ÌR ù lu GEME2 šu-nu DUMU.MEŠ ma-tim ba-lum KUG.BABBAR-ma an-du-ra-ar-šu-nu iš-ša-ak-ka-an

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 70)

Normalization

šumma awīlum ina māt nukurtim wardam amtam ša awīlim ištām, inūma ina libbu mātim ittalkam«-ma» bēl wardim ū lū amtim lū warassu ū lū amassu ūteddi, šumma wardum ū lū amtum šunu mārū mātim balum kaspim-ma andurāršunu iššakkan.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 70)

Translation

If a man has bought a man’s male or female slave in a foreign country, (and) when he has come into the country, the owner of the male or female slave has recognized his male or female slave, if those male or female slave(s) are natives of the country, their freedom will be established without any silver.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 70)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 280 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 8 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/280. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, November 8). § 280 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/280

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 280 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 8, 2023. Modified January 19, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/280.

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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