§ 10

Law § 10 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the punishment for holding stolen property without witnesses includes returning said property and execution.

This law seems to rely on conditions provided in § 9.

Translation
If the buyer has not produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought, but the owner of the stolen property has produced witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the buyer is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the property will receive his stolen property. · ·
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 10 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 5, col. VII, lns. 48–61)

Transliteration

šum-ma ša-a-a-ma-nu-um na-di-in id-di-nu-šum ù ši-bi ša i-na maḫ-ri-šu-nu i-ša-mu la it-ba-lam be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im-ma ši-bi mu-de ḫu-ul-qí-šu it-ba-lam ša-a-a-ma-nu-um šar-ra-aq id-da-ak be-el ḫu-ul-qí-im ḫu-lu-uq-šu i-le-qé

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 382)

Normalization

šumma šayyāmānum nādin iddinūšum u šībī ša ina maḫrīšunu išāmu lā itbalam, bēl ḫulqim-ma šībī mūde ḫulqīšu itbalam, šayyāmānum šarrāq iddâk; bēl ḫulqim ḫuluqšu ileqqe.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Translation

If the buyer has not produced the seller who sold to him and the witnesses before whom he bought, but the owner of the stolen property has produced witnesses who recognize his stolen property, the buyer is a thief; he will be executed; the owner of the property will receive his stolen property.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 10

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 5)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 10: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XI])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 10: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 10 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Side 3
Column(s) Col. 7
Line(s) Lns. 48–61
Key
Law § 10
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 10 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 10 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 the buyer
  • 4 action has not produced
  • 5 party:2 the seller who sold
  • 6 party:1 to him
  • 7 and and
  • 8 party:3 the witnesses before whom he bought,
  • 9 condition:end
  • 10 but but
  • 11 condition:start
  • 12 party:4 the owner of the stolen property
  • 13 action has produced
  • 14 party:5 witnesses who recognize his stolen property,
  • 15 condition:end
  • 16 then:start (then)
  • 17 result:start
  • 18 party:1 the buyer
  • 19 action is a thief;
  • 20 and (and)
  • 21 party:1 he
  • 22 action will be executed;
  • 23 result:end
  • 24 and (and)
  • 25 result:start
  • 26 party:4 the owner of the property
  • 27 action will receive his stolen property.
  • 28 result:end
  • 29 then:end
  • 30 if:end

Vocabulary

Akkadian Words · Powered by GrammarSnifferSM

šumma (conditional Particle) "if; whether"

u (Conjunction)

ša (relative Particle) "(introduces relative clause or epithet); who, whom; s/he who"

ina (Preposition) "in, on, onto"

lā (negation Particle) "not, no, nor; (negation)"

iddâk (N-Stem Durative Verb form) 3rd Person Common Singular of dâku "to kill"

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 10 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 24 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/10. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 24). § 10 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/10

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 10 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 24, 2023. Modified December 15, 2024. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/10.

CMS 16

Bibliography

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

ACH

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

CHTP

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

HKEY3

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

–

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

RHL

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

SoT

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol commonly denotes "a shorthand notation for the word 'section'."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Cuneiform commonly means "an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Normalization commonly means "the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Translation commonly means "the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another."

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eHammurabi Glossary

The term Transliteration commonly means "the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another."

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