§ 58

Law § 58 of Hammurabi's Code

Translation
If, after a flock has come up from a meadow, the “termination pennants”? have been hung from the city gate, (yet) the shepherd let the flock go to a field (i.e., put the flock out to pasture), and allowed the flock to use the field, the shepherd will look after the field he allowed to be used and will measure out sixty kor of grain per būrum to the owner of the field at harvest time.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Livestock, Fields, Land
Inscription

Cuneiform

Law § 58 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 11, col. XV–XVI, lns. 65–78; 1–3)

Transliteration

šum-ma iš-tu U8.UDU.ḪI.A i-na A.GÀR i-te-li-a-nim ka-an-nu ga-ma-ar-tim i-na ABUL it-ta-aʾ-la-lu SIPA U8.UDU.ḪI.A a-na A.ŠÀ id-di-ma A.ŠÀ U8.UDU.ḪI.A uš-ta-ki-il SIPA A.ŠÀ ú-ša-ki-lu i-na- ṣa-ar-ma i-na ebūrim(BURU14) ana būrim (BÙRiku.E) 60 ŠE.GUR a-na be-el A.ŠÀ i-ma-ad-da-ad

Source: Huehnergard (2011, p. 383)

Normalization

šumma ištu šēnū ina ugārim īteliānim kannū gamartim ina abullim ittaḫlalū rēʾûm ṣēnī ana eqlim iddī-ma eqlam ṣēnī uštākil, rēʾûm eqel ušākilu inaṣṣar-ma ina ebūrim ana būrim šūši kur âm ana bēl eqlim imaddad.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100)

Translation

If, after a flock has come up from a meadow, the “termination pennants”? have been hung from the city gate, (yet) the shepherd let the flock go to a field (i.e., put the flock out to pasture), and allowed the flock to use the field, the shepherd will look after the field he allowed to be used and will measure out sixty kor of grain per būrum to the owner of the field at harvest time.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 100–101)

Cuneiform

Signs for Law § 58

  • Unavailable
    Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 11)
    Cuneiform
    Law § 58: cuneiform line art
    Source: Harper (1904, p. [pl. XXIV])
    Cuneiform
    Law § 58: line art of cuneiform

Inscription

Location of Law § 58 · Powered by Stele3DSM

Orientation Front
Side(s) Sides 3 – 1 (overflow)
Column(s) Cols. 15–16
Line(s) Lns. 65–3
Key
Law § 58
Prologue
Laws
Epilogue
Damage
Open Law § 58 in Stele3DSM

Logic

Logic Map for § 58 · Powered by LawgicSnifferSM

#
Steps
  • 1 if:start If,
  • 2 condition:start
  • 3 undefined after
  • 4 item:1 a flock
  • 5 action has come up from a meadow,
  • 6 item:2 the termination pennants
  • 7 action have been hung from the city gate,
  • 8 condition:end
  • 9 and yet
  • 10 condition:start
  • 11 party:1 the shepherd
  • 12 action let
  • 13 item:1 the flock
  • 14 action go to
  • 15 item:3 a field
  • 16 or i.e.,
  • 17 action put
  • 18 item:1 the flock
  • 19 action out to pasture,
  • 20 condition:end
  • 21 and and
  • 22 condition:start
  • 23 party:1 [he]
  • 24 action allowed
  • 25 item:1 the flock
  • 26 action to use
  • 27 item:3 the field,
  • 28 condition:end
  • 29 then:start [then]
  • 30 result:start
  • 31 party:1 the shepherd
  • 32 action will look after
  • 33 item:3 the field
  • 34 party:1 he
  • 35 action allowed to be used
  • 36 result:end
  • 37 undefined and
  • 38 result:start
  • 39 party:1 [he]
  • 40 action will measure out
  • 41 item:4 sixty kor of grain per būrum
  • 42 party:2 to the owner
  • 43 item:3 of the field
  • 44 undefined at harvest time
  • 45 result:end
  • 46 then:end
  • 47 if:end

Citation

Dedović, B. "§ 58 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 28 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/58. [Accessed 7 Nov. 2026]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 28). § 58 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/58

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "§ 58 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 28, 2023. Modified January 2, 2025. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/58.

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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