§ 49

Law § 49 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a man received silver from a merchant and gave the merchant a field prepared for barley or for sesame, (and) said “cultivate the field and collect and take for yourself the barley or sesame that grows,” if a cultivator produced barley or sesame in the field, at harvest time it is the owner of the field who will receive the barley or sesame that grow in the field, and then he will give the merchant the barley (worth the amount) of his silver and its interest that he received from the merchant, as well as the maintenance amounts of the cultivating.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Agricultural Tenants
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 49 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 10, col. XIV, lns. 18–44)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum KUG.BABBAR it-ti DAM.GÀR il-qé-ma A.ŠÀ ep-še-tim ša ŠE ù lu ŠE.GIŠ.Ì a-na DAM.GÀR id-di-in A.ŠÀ e-ri-iš-ma ŠE ù lu-ú ŠE.GIŠ.Ì ša ib-ba-aš-šu-ú e-si-ip ta-ba-al iq-bi-šum šum-ma er-re-šum i-na A.ŠÀ ŠE ù lu ŠE.GIŠ.Ì uš-tab-ši i-na ebūrim (BURU14) ŠE ù ŠE.GIŠ.Ì ša i-na A.ŠÀ ib-ba-aš-šu-ú be-el A.ŠÀ-ma i-le-qé-ma ŠE ša KUG.BABBAR-šu ù ṣi-ba-sú ša it-ti DAM.GÀR il-qú-ú ù ma-na-ḫa-at e-re-ši-im a-na DAM.GÀR i-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 368)

Normalization

šumma awīlum kaspam itti tamkārim ilqē-ma eqel epšētim ša êm ū lū ša šamaššammī ana tamkārim iddin, “eqlam eriš-ma âm ū lū šamaššammī ša ibbaššû esip, tabal,” iqbīšum, šumma errēšum ina eqlim âm ū lū šamaššammī uštabši, ina ebūrim âm ū šamaššammī ša ina eqlim ibbaššû bēl eqlim-ma ileqqē-ma âm ša kaspīšu u ṣibassu ša itti tamkārim ilqû u mānaḫāt erēšim ana tamkārim inaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 94)

Translation

If a man received silver from a merchant and gave the merchant a field prepared for barley or for sesame, (and) said “cultivate the field and collect and take for yourself the barley or sesame that grows,” if a cultivator produced barley or sesame in the field, at harvest time it is the owner of the field who will receive the barley or sesame that grow in the field, and then he will give the merchant the barley (worth the amount) of his silver and its interest that he received from the merchant, as well as the maintenance amounts of the cultivating.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 94)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 49

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 10)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 49: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XXI–XXII])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 49: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 49 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Side 2
Column(s) Col. 14
Line(s) Lns. 18–44
Key
Law § 49
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 49 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 49 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a man
  • 4 action received (from)
  • 5 item:1 silver
  • 6 party:2 a merchant
  • 7 and and
  • 8 action gave
  • 9 party:2 the merchant
  • 10 item:2 a field
  • 11 action prepared for
  • 12 item:3 barley
  • 13 or or for
  • 14 item:4 sesame,
  • 15 and (and)
  • 16 party:1 [he]
  • 17 action said
  • 18 party:2 [You]
  • 19 action “cultivate
  • 20 item:2 the field
  • 21 and and
  • 22 party:2 [you]
  • 23 action collect
  • 24 and and
  • 25 party:2 [you]
  • 26 action take for
  • 27 party:2 yourself
  • 28 item:3 the barley
  • 29 or or
  • 30 item:4 sesame
  • 31 action that grows,"
  • 32 condition:end
  • 33 and [and]
  • 34 if if
  • 35 condition:start
  • 36 party:3 a cultivator
  • 37 action produced
  • 38 item:3 barley
  • 39 or or
  • 40 item:4 sesame
  • 41 item:2 (in) the field,
  • 42 condition:end
  • 43 then:start [then]
  • 44 result:start
  • 45 undefined at harvest time
  • 46 action it is
  • 47 party:1 the owner of
  • 48 item:2 the field
  • 49 action who will receive
  • 50 item:3 the barley
  • 51 or or
  • 52 item:4 sesame
  • 53 action that grow in
  • 54 item:1 the field,
  • 55 result:end
  • 56 and and
  • 57 then then
  • 58 result:start
  • 59 party:1 he
  • 60 action will give
  • 61 item:3 barley (worth the amount) of
  • 62 party:1 his
  • 63 item:1 silver
  • 64 and and
  • 65 item:1 its
  • 66 item:5 interest that
  • 67 party:1 he
  • 68 action received from
  • 69 party:2 the merchant,
  • 70 undefined as well as
  • 71 item:6 the maintenance amounts of the cultivating.
  • 72 result:end
  • 73 then:end
  • 74 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 49 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 26 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/49. [Accessed 6 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 26). § 49 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/49

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 49 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 26, 2023. Modified December 16, 2024. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/49.

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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