§ 2

Law § 2 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary

charges of witchcraft will be determined by means of whether the accused survives diving into a river. Survival determines whether the accuser or the accused gets the other's estate.

Translation

If a man laid a charge of witchcraft against a man but has not convicted him, the one against whom the witchcraft charge was laid will go to the River; he will dive into the River, and if the River has defeated him, his accuser will take away his estate; if the River has cleared that man and he has come out alright, the one who laid the witchcraft charge against him will be executed; the one who dove into the River will take away the estate of his accuser.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Unsubstantiated Allegations

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 4, col. V, lns. 33–56)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum ki-iš-pí e-li a-wi-lim id-di-ma la uk-ti-in-šu ša e-li-šu ki-iš-pu na-du-ú a-na ^dÍD i-il-la-ak ^dÍD i-ša-al-li-a-am-ma šum-ma ^dÍD ik-ta-ša-sú mu-ub-bi-ir-šu É-sú i-tab-ba-al šum-ma a-wi-lam šu-a-ti ^dÍD ú-te-eb-bi-ba-aš-šu-ma iš-ta-al-ma-am ša e-li-šu ki-iš-pí id-du-ú id-da-ak ša ^dÍD iš-li-a-am É mu-ub-bi-ri-šu i-tab-ba-al

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 64)

Normalization

šumma awīlum kišpī eli awīlim iddī-ma lā uktīššu, ša elīšu kišpū nadû ana Id illak; Id išalliam-ma šumma Id iktašassu mubbiršu bīssu itabbal; šumma awīlam šuāti Id ūtebbibaššū-ma ištalmam, ša elīšu kišpī iddû iddâk; ša Id išliam bīt mubbirīšu itabbal.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 65)

Translation

If a man laid a charge of witchcraft against a man but has not convicted him, the one against whom the witchcraft charge was laid will go to the River; he will dive into the River, and if the River has defeated him, his accuser will take away his estate; if the River has cleared that man and he has come out alright, the one who laid the witchcraft charge against him will be executed; the one who dove into the River will take away the estate of his accuser.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 65)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 2 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 22 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/2. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 22). § 2 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/2

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 2 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 22, 2023. Modified December 15, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/2.

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]

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§ 2

Law § 2 of Hammurabi's Code

Cuneiform

Transliteration

Normalization

Translation

Citation

Bibliography