§ 56

Law § 56 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the penalty for flooding a neighbor's arable land with water is a share of grain per acre.
Translation
If a man released (opened) water and flooded the work of his neighbor’s field with water, he will measure out ten kor of grain per būrum.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Tenants

Cuneiform

Law § 56 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 11, col. XV, lns. 39–45)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum me-e ip-te-ma ep-še-tim ša A.ŠÀ i-te-šu me-e uš-ta-bíl ana būrim (BÙRiku.E) 10 ŠE.GUR i-ma-ad-da-ad

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 317)

Normalization

šumma awīlum mê iptē-ma epšētim ša eqel itêšu mê uštābil, ana būrim eš(e)ret kur âm imaddad.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 77)

Translation

If a man released (opened) water and flooded the work of his neighbor’s field with water, he will measure out ten kor of grain per būrum.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 77)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 56 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 27 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/56. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 27). § 56 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/56

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 56 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 27, 2023. Modified December 17, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/56.

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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