§ 32

Law § 32 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a merchant ransomed either a rēdûm or a bāʾerum who was taken captive on a royal campaign, and allowed him to reach his town, if there is enough in his estate to ransom him, he will ransom himself; if there is not enough in his estate to ransom him, he will be ransomed through the temple of his town; if there is not enough to ransom him in the temple of his town, the palace will ransom him. His field, orchard, and estate will not be sold as his ransom price.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Obligations

Cuneiform

Law § 32 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 8, col. XI, lns. 13–38)

Transliteration

[š]um-ma lu AGA.ÚS ù lu ŠU.ḪA ša i-na ḫar-ra-an šar-ri-im tu-úr-ru DAM.GÀR ip-ṭú-ra-aš-šu-ma URU-šu uš-ta-ak-ši-da-aš-šu šum-ma i-na bi-ti-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-im i-ba-aš-ši šu-ma ra-ma-an-šu i-pa-aṭ-ṭa-ar šum-ma i-na bi-ti-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-šu la i-ba-aš-ši i-na É DINGIR URU-šu ip-pa-aṭ-ṭár šum-ma i-na É DINGIR URU-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-šu la i-ba-aš-ši É.GAL i-pa-aṭ-ṭa-ar(!RI)-šu A.ŠÀ-šu gišKIRI6-šu ù É-sú a-na ip-ṭe4-ri-šu ú-ul in-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 367)

Normalization

[š]umma lū rēdiam ū lū bāʾeram ša ina ḫarrān šarrim turru tamkārum ipṭuraššū-ma ālšu uštakšidaššu, šumma ina bītīšu ša paṭārim ibašši, šū-ma ramāššu ipaṭṭar; šumma ina bītīšu ša paṭārīšu lā ibašši, ina bīt il(i) ālīšu ippaṭṭar; šumma ina bīt il(i) ālīšu ša paṭārīšu lā ibašši, ekallum ipaṭṭaršu. Eqelšu kirīšu u bīssu ana ipṭerīšu ul innaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 93–94)

Translation

If a merchant ransomed either a rēdûm or a bāʾerum who was taken captive on a royal campaign, and allowed him to reach his town, if there is enough in his estate to ransom him, he will ransom himself; if there is not enough in his estate to ransom him, he will be ransomed through the temple of his town; if there is not enough to ransom him in the temple of his town, the palace will ransom him. His field, orchard, and estate will not be sold as his ransom price.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 94)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 32 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 25 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/32. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 25). § 32 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/32

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 32 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 25, 2023. Modified December 16, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/32.

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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