§ 120

Law § 120 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man stored his grain as silage in a(nother) man’s establishment and a deficit occurred in the storeroom, (and) either the owner of the establishment opened the granary and took the grain or he denied completely that the grain had been stored in his establishment, the owner of the grain will certify his grain before the god, and the owner of the establishment will give the owner of the grain twice the grain he received.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Other Peoples' Property
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 120 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 14, col. R IV, lns. 4–23)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum ŠE-šu a-na na-aš-pa-ku-tim i-na É a-wi-lim(! LUM) iš-pu-uk-ma i-na qá-ri-tim i-ib-bu-ú-um it-tab-ši ù lu be-el É na-aš-pa-kam ip-te-ma ŠE il-qé ù lu ŠE ša i-na É-šu iš-ša-ap-ku a-na ga-am-ri-im it-ta-ki-ir be-el ŠE ma-ḫar i-lim ŠE-šu ú-ba-ar-ma be-el É ŠE ša il-qú-ú uš-ta-ša-na-ma a-na be-el ŠE i-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 441)

Normalization

šumma awīlum âšu ana našpakūtim ina bīt awīlim išpuk-ma ina qarītim ibbûm ittabši ū lū bēl bītim našpakam iptē-ma âm ilqe ū lū âm ša ina bītīšu iššapku ana gamrim ittakir, bēl êm maḫar ilim âšu ubār-ma bēl bītim âm ša ilqû uštašannā-ma ana bēl êm inaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 123)

Translation

If a man stored his grain as silage in a(nother) man’s establishment and a deficit occurred in the storeroom, (and) either the owner of the establishment opened the granary and took the grain or he denied completely that the grain had been stored in his establishment, the owner of the grain will certify his grain before the god, and the owner of the establishment will give the owner of the grain twice the grain he received.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 123)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 120

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 14)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 120: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XXXI–XXXII])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 120: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 120 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Back
Side(s) Sides 4 – 5 (overflow)
Column(s) Col. 27
Line(s) Lns. 4–23
Key
Law § 120
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 120 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 120 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a man
  • 4 action stored
  • 5 party:1 his
  • 6 item:1 grain
  • 7 item:2 as silage in
  • 8 party:2 another man’s
  • 9 item:3 establishment
  • 10 condition:end
  • 11 and and
  • 12 condition:start
  • 13 item:4 a deficit
  • 14 action occurred in the storeroom,
  • 15 condition:end
  • 16 and and either
  • 17 condition:start
  • 18 party:2 the owner
  • 19 item:3 of the establishment
  • 20 action opened the granary
  • 21 and and
  • 22 action took
  • 23 item:1 the grain
  • 24 condition:end
  • 25 or or
  • 26 condition:start
  • 27 party:2 he
  • 28 action denied completely that
  • 29 item:1 the grain
  • 30 action had been stored in
  • 31 party:2 his
  • 32 item:3 establishment
  • 33 condition:end
  • 34 then:start [then]
  • 35 result:start
  • 36 party:1 the owner of
  • 37 item:1 the grain
  • 38 action will certify
  • 39 party:1 his
  • 40 item:1 grain
  • 41 party:3 before the god,
  • 42 result:end
  • 43 and and
  • 44 result:start
  • 45 party:2 the owner of
  • 46 item:3 the establishment
  • 47 action will give
  • 48 party:1 the owner of
  • 49 item:1 the grain
  • 50 undefined twice
  • 51 item:1 the grain
  • 52 party:1 he
  • 53 action received.
  • 54 result:end
  • 55 then:end
  • 56 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 120 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 1 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/120. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 1). § 120 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/120

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 120 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 1, 2023. Modified December 25, 2024. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/120.

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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