§ 57

Law § 57 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If a shepherd did not come to an agreement with the owner of a field to feed a flock herbage, but has fed the flock on the field without the field owner’s consent, the field owner will harvest his field (and) the shepherd who fed the flock without the field owner’s consent will give the field owner twenty kor of grain per būr in addition.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Livestock, Fields, Land
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 57 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 11, col. XV, lns. 46–64)

Transliteration

šum-ma SIPAD a-na ša-am-mi U8.UDU.ḪI.A šu-ku-lim it-ti be-el A.ŠÀ la im-ta-gàr-ma ba-lum be-el A.ŠÀ A.ŠÀ U8.UDU.ḪI.A uš-ta-ki-il be-el A.ŠÀ A.ŠÀ-šu i-iṣ-ṣi-id SIPA ša i-na ba-lum be-el A.ŠÀ U8.UDU.ḪI.A ú-ša-ki-lu e-le-nu-um-ma ana būrim (BÙRiku.E) 20 ŠE.GUR a-na be-el A.ŠÀ i-na-ad-di-in

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 399)

Normalization

šumma rēʾûm ana šammī ṣēnī šūkulim itti bēl eqlim lā imtagar-ma balum bēl eqlim eqlam ṣēnī uštākil, bēl eqlim eqelšu iṣṣid, rēʾûm ša ina balum bēl eqlim ṣēnī ušākilu elēnum-ma ana būrim ešrā kur âm ana bēl eqlim inaddin.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 105)

Translation

If a shepherd did not come to an agreement with the owner of a field to feed a flock herbage, but has fed the flock on the field without the field owner’s consent, the field owner will harvest his field (and) the shepherd who fed the flock without the field owner’s consent will give the field owner twenty kor of grain per būr in addition.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 105)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 57

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 11)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 57: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XXIII–XXIV])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 57: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 57 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Sides 2 – 3 (overflow)
Column(s) Col. 15
Line(s) Lns. 46–64
Key
Law § 57
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 57 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 57 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 party:1 a shepherd
  • 4 negation did not
  • 5 action come to
  • 6 item:1 an agreement
  • 7 undefined with
  • 8 party:2 the owner
  • 9 undefined of
  • 10 item:2 a field
  • 11 action to feed
  • 12 party:3 a flock
  • 13 item:3 herbage,
  • 14 but but
  • 15 party:1 [he]
  • 16 action has fed
  • 17 party:3 the flock
  • 18 undefined on
  • 19 item:2 the field
  • 20 negation without
  • 21 party:2 the field owner’s
  • 22 item:4 consent,
  • 23 condition:end
  • 24 then:start [then]
  • 25 result:start
  • 26 party:2 the field owner
  • 27 action will harvest
  • 28 party:2 his
  • 29 item:2 field
  • 30 result:end
  • 31 and (and)
  • 32 result:start
  • 33 party:1 the shepherd who
  • 34 action fed
  • 35 party:3 the flock
  • 36 negation without
  • 37 party:2 the field owner's
  • 38 item:4 consent
  • 39 party:1 [he]
  • 40 action will give
  • 41 party:2 the field owner
  • 42 item:5 twenty kor of grain
  • 43 undefined per
  • 44 item:6 būr
  • 45 action in addition.
  • 46 result:end
  • 47 then:end
  • 48 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 57 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 27 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/57. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 27). § 57 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/57

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 57 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 27, 2023. Modified February 1, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/57.

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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