§ 251

Law § 251 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man’s ox was prone to goring and his neighborhood had made known to him that it was prone to goring, yet he had not trimmed its horns, (and) did not control the ox so that said ox gored and has caused the death of a member of the awīlum class, he will give half a mina of silver.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Value of Animals
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 251 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 30, col. R XX1, lns. 52–65)

Transliteration

šum-ma GUD a-wi-lim na-ak-ka-p[í-ma] ki-ma na-ak-ka-pu-ú ba-ab-ta-šu ú-še-di-šum-ma qar-ni-šu la ú-šar-ri-im GUD la ú-sa-an-ni-iq-ma GUD šu-ú DUMU a-wi-lim i[k-k]i-ip-ma u[š-ta]-mi-it 1/2 [MA].NA KUG.BABBAR i-[na]-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 317)

Normalization

šumma alap awīlim nakkāp[ī-ma] kīma nakkāpû bābtašu ušēdīšumma qarnīšu lā ušarrim alpam lā usanniq-ma alpum šū mār awīlim i[kk]ip-ma u[šta]mīt mišil [ma]nā kaspam i[n]addin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 77)

Translation

If a man’s ox was prone to goring and his neighborhood had made known to him that it was prone to goring, yet he had not trimmed its horns, (and) did not control the ox so that said ox gored and has caused the death of a member of the awīlum class, he will give half a mina of silver.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 77)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 251

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 30)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 251: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. LXVI] )
    Cuneiform
    Law § 251: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 251 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Back
Side(s) Side 5
Column(s) Col. 44
Line(s) Lns. 53–65
Key
Law § 251
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 251 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 251 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a man's
  • 4 item:1 ox
  • 5 action was prone to goring
  • 6 condition:end
  • 7 and and
  • 8 condition:start
  • 9 party:1 his
  • 10 party:2 neighborhood
  • 11 action had made known to
  • 12 party:1 him (that)
  • 13 item:1 it
  • 14 action was prone to goring,
  • 15 condition:end
  • 16 but yet
  • 17 condition:start
  • 18 party:1 he
  • 19 negation had not
  • 20 action trimmed
  • 21 item:1 its
  • 22 item:2 horns,
  • 23 condition:end
  • 24 and and
  • 25 condition:start
  • 26 party:1 [he]
  • 27 negation did not
  • 28 action control
  • 29 item:1 the ox
  • 30 condition:end
  • 31 result so that
  • 32 condition:start
  • 33 item:1 said ox
  • 34 action gored
  • 35 condition:end
  • 36 and and
  • 37 condition:start
  • 38 item:1 [it]
  • 39 action has caused the death of
  • 40 party:3 a member of the awīlum class,
  • 41 condition:end
  • 42 then:end [then]
  • 43 result:start
  • 44 party:1 he
  • 45 action will give
  • 46 item:3 half a mina of silver.
  • 47 result:end
  • 48 then:end
  • 49 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 251 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 6 Nov. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/251. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, November 6). § 251 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/251

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 251 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 6, 2023. Modified January 13, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/251.

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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