§ 40

Law § 40 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
certain individuals may exchange their real property for silver; and the new owner is responsible for said real property.
Translation
A temple-woman, a merchant and a tenant with special duties may exchange their field, their orchard or their house for silver. The purchaser shall perform the duties for the field, orchard or house which he buys.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Obligations

Cuneiform

Law § 40 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 9, col. XII, lns. 39–48)

Transliteration

aššatum tamkarum u il-kum a-ḫu-u-um eḳil-šu kirâ-šu u bî-zu ana kaspim i-na-ad-di-in ša-a-a-ma-nu-um i-li-ik eḳlim kirêm u bîtim ša i-ša-am-mu i-il-la-ak

Source: Abulhab (2017, p. 39)

Normalization

nadītum tamkārum u ilkum aḫûm eqelšu kirāšu u bīssu ana kaspim inaddin. šāyyimānum ilik eqlim kirîm u bītim ša išammu illak

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 54)

Translation

A temple-woman, a merchant and a tenant with special duties may exchange their field, their orchard or their house for silver. The purchaser shall perform the duties for the field, orchard or house which he buys.

Source: Richardson (2004, p. 55)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 40 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 26 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/40. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 26). § 40 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/40

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 40 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 26, 2023. Modified February 1, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/40.

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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