§ 32

Law § 32 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation

If a merchant ransomed either a rēdûm or a bāʾerum who was taken captive on a royal campaign, and allowed him to reach his town, if there is enough in his estate to ransom him, he will ransom himself; if there is not enough in his estate to ransom him, he will be ransomed through the temple of his town; if there is not enough to ransom him in the temple of his town, the palace will ransom him. His field, orchard, and estate will not be sold as his ransom price.

Law Code

Law Code of Hammurabi

Law Group

Agricultural Obligations

Inscription

Cuneiform

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 8, col. XI, lns. 13–38)

Transliteration

[š]um-ma lu AGA.ÚS ù lu ŠU.ḪA ša i-na ḫar-ra-an šar-ri-im tu-úr-ru DAM.GÀR ip-ṭú-ra-aš-šu-ma URU-šu uš-ta-ak-ši-da-aš-šu šum-ma i-na bi-ti-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-im i-ba-aš-ši šu-ma ra-ma-an-šu i-pa-aṭ-ṭa-ar šum-ma i-na bi-ti-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-šu la i-ba-aš-ši i-na É DINGIR URU-šu ip-pa-aṭ-ṭár šum-ma i-na É DINGIR URU-šu ša pa-ṭa-ri-šu la i-ba-aš-ši É.GAL i-pa-aṭ-ṭa-ar(!RI)-šu A.ŠÀ-šu ^gišKIRI₆-šu ù É-sú a-na ip-ṭe₄-ri-šu ú-ul in-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 367)

Normalization

[š]umma lū rēdiam ū lū bāʾeram ša ina ḫarrān šarrim turru tamkārum ipṭuraššū-ma ālšu uštakšidaššu, šumma ina bītīšu ša paṭārim ibašši, šū-ma ramāššu ipaṭṭar; šumma ina bītīšu ša paṭārīšu lā ibašši, ina bīt il(i) ālīšu ippaṭṭar; šumma ina bīt il(i) ālīšu ša paṭārīšu lā ibašši, ekallum ipaṭṭaršu. Eqelšu kirīšu u bīssu ana ipṭerīšu ul innaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 93–94)

Translation

If a merchant ransomed either a rēdûm or a bāʾerum who was taken captive on a royal campaign, and allowed him to reach his town, if there is enough in his estate to ransom him, he will ransom himself; if there is not enough in his estate to ransom him, he will be ransomed through the temple of his town; if there is not enough to ransom him in the temple of his town, the palace will ransom him. His field, orchard, and estate will not be sold as his ransom price.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 94)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 32

Unavailable

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 8)
Cuneiform

Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XVI–XVII])
Cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 32 · Powered by Stele3D^SM

Orientation Front

Side(s) Sides 1 – 2 (overflow)

Column(s) Col. 11

Line(s) Lns. 13–38

Key

Law § 32

Prologue

Laws

Epilogue

Damage

Open Law § 32 in Stele3D^SM

Logic

Logic Map for § 32 · Powered by LawgicSniffer^SM

#

Steps

1 if:start If
2 condition:start
3 party:1 a merchant
4 action ransomed
5 party:2 either
6 party:3 a rēdûm
7 or or
8 party:4 a bāʾerum
9 action who was taken captive
10 undefined on a royal campaign,
11 and and
12 party:1 [he]
13 action allowed
14 party:2 him
15 action to reach his town,
16 condition:end
17 then:start [then]
18 if:start if
19 condition:start
20 action there is enough
21 party:2 in his
22 item:1 estate
23 action to ransom
24 party:2 him
25 condition:end
26 if:end
27 then:start [then]
28 result:start
29 party:2 he
30 action will ransom
31 party:2 himself;
32 result:end
33 then:end
34 or [or]
35 if:start if
36 condition:start
37 action there is
38 negation not enough
39 party:2 in his
40 item:1 estate
41 action to ransom
42 party:2 him,
43 condition:end
44 if:end
45 then:start [then]
46 result:start
47 party:2 he
48 action will be ransomed
49 undefined through the temple of
50 party:2 his town;
51 result:end
52 then:end
53 or [or]
54 if:start if
55 condition:start
56 action there is
57 negation not enough
58 action to ransom
59 party:2 him
60 undefined in the temple of
61 party:2 his town,
62 party:3 the palace
63 action will ransom
64 party:2 him.
65 condition:end
66 if:end
67 and [and]
68 result:start
69 party:2 His
70 item:2 field,
71 or [or]
72 item:3 orchard,
73 and and
74 item:1 estate
75 negation will not
76 action be sold as
77 party:2 his
78 item:4 ransom price.
79 result:end
80 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 32 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 25 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/32. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 25). § 32 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/32

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 32 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 25, 2023. Modified December 16, 2024. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/32.

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

Settings

General

Audio

Stele3D^SM

View

Zoom

Basic addons

Advanced addons

Advanced

§ 32