Law Groups in Hammurabi's Code

The Law Code of Hammurabi's 282 recognized laws may be organized into sixteen (16) distinct groups.

Most scholars recognize that the Law Code of Hammurabi contains between 15–20 distinct law groups. The original inscription did not describe law groups. The same is said for distinguishing between each of the 282 recognized statutes. Instead, scholars had to make their own determinations. The approach adopted by scholars has been to create categories based on the theme, or content, of the laws.

The sixteen law groups presented in eHammurabi follow the same time-honored approach. The methodology for determining these groups relied on comparing the categories put forth by prior scholars. However, only a handful of full translations of the Law Code of Hammurabi categorize the statutes into law groups. Some translations that provide an index of law groups include:

Johns, Claude H.W. Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904.
Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA DataStore: Mythology Datasets." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org/datastore.
Handcock, Percy S.P. The Code of Hammurabi. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1920.
Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

Law Group

Laws

Unsubstantiated Allegations

§§ 1–5

Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

§§ 6–25

Agricultural Obligations

§§ 26–41

Agricultural Tenants

§§ 42–56

Livestock, Fields, Land

§§ 57–75

Merchants

§§ 76–107

Selling Alcohol

§§ 108–111

Other Peoples' Property

§§ 112–126

Family and Divorce

§§ 127–152

Family Abuse and Marriage

§§ 153–164

Inheritance

§§ 165–184

Children

§§ 185–195

Assault

§§ 196–216

Compensation and Fees

§§ 217–240

Value of Animals

§§ 241–252

Labor, Equipment, Fees

§§ 253–282

Law groups comparison table

Law Groups in Hammurabi's Law Code

Table

#	MicroSet^SM A small albeit important dataset compiled from several other sources. Source 16 groups · OMNIKA Foundation (2024) Laws Title	Source data The original data from the sources used to compile the MicroSet dataset. Source #1 15 groups · Richardson (2004, pp. 25–27) Laws Title Source #2 39 groups · Abulhab (2017, p. 7) Laws Title Source #3 18 groups · Handcock (1920, pp. 4–5) Laws Title
1	§§ 1–5 Unsubstantiated Allegations	§§ 1–5 Unsubstantiated Allegations	§§ 1–5 Courts and Judiciary Affairs	§§ 1–5 Penalties for false accusation, false evidence, and wrong legal decisions
2	§§ 6–25 Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery	§§ 6–25 Theft	§§ 6–13 Stolen and Missing Property	§§ 6–14 Penalties for theft
3	§§ 26–41 Agricultural Obligations	§§ 26–75 Agriculture	§ 14 Stealing Children	§§ 15–20 Harbouring an escaped slave
4	§§ 42–56 Agricultural Tenants	§§ 76–107 The Merchant	§§ 15–20 Stealing, Hiding, and Finding Slaves	§§ 21–25 highway robbery, and robbery at a fire
5	§§ 57–75 Livestock, Fields, Land	§§ 108–11 Selling Alcohol	§§ 21–24 Home Invasion, Robbery, Deadly Assault, and Liability	§§ 26–41 Privileges and obligations of royal servants, judges, etc.
6	§§ 76–107 Merchants	§§ 112–26 Other People's Property	§ 25 Stealing by Fire Fighters	§§ 42–65 Laws relating to landlord and tenant
7	§§ 108–11 Selling Alcohol	§§ 127–95 Women and Children	§§ 26–41 Military Officers and Government Officials Special Laws	§§ 66–99 Erased [sic]
8	§§ 112–26 Other Peoples' Property	§§ 196–252 Compensation and Fees	§§ 42–58 Fields Contracts and Liability	§§ 100–26 Laws relating to trade and commerce
9	§§ 127–52 Family and Divorce	§§ 253–58 Casual Labour	§§ 59–66 Orchards Contracts and Liability	§§ 100–07 Laws relating to a merchant and his agent
10	§§ 153–64 Family Abuse and Marriage	§§ 259–60 Fines for Stolen Implements	§§ 67–69 Real Estate and Tenant Affairs	§§ 108–11 Laws relating to wine-merchants
11	§§ 165–84 Inheritance	§§ 261–67 Herdsmen and Shepherds	§§ 70–76 Merchants Lending and Profits	§ 112 Liabilities in respect of loss in the transport of goods
12	§§ 185–95 Children	§§ 268–73 Hire of Animals and Equipment	§§ 77–?? Merchants Partnership	§§ 113–19 Laws relating to debt and distraint
13	§§ 196–216 Assault	§ 274 Tradesmen's Rates	§§ ??–108 Merchants and Jobbers Relations	§§ 120–26 Law of bailment
14	§§ 217–40 Compensation and Fees	§§ 275–77 Rates for Boats	§§ 109–11 Alewife and Alcohol Sale	§§ 127–93 Family law
15	§§ 241–52 Value of Animals	§§ 278–82 Slaves Unable to Work	§ 112 Cargo Transportation	§§ 194–233 Criminal law: penalties for assaults, etc.
16	§§ 253–82 Labor, Equipment, Fees		§§ 113–19 Loan Fulfillment and Hostage Taking	§§ 234–40 Laws relating to navigation
17			§§ 120–26 Storage and Lodgment	§§ 241–77 Rates of payment for hire of animals, for work done, etc.
18			§§ 127–52 Family, Divorce, Wife Adultery, and Dishonor	§§ 278–82 The law as affecting slaves
19			§§ 153–58 Sexual Assault, Daughter Abuse, and Murdering Husband
20			§§ 159–64 Marriage, Dowry and Marriage Endowments
21			§§ 165–84 Inheritance
22			§§ 185–94 Adoption and Wet Nurse
23			§§ 195–216 Assault
24			§§ 217–25 Doctors and Veterinarians
25			§§ 226–27 Slave Branding
26			§§ 228–33 Homes, Builders, and Liability
27			§§ 234–40 Boats, Boatmen, and Liability
28			§§ 241–49 Oxen and Donkeys Renting and Liability
29			§§ 250–52 Ox Liability
30			§§ 253–56 Field Laborers, Contractors and Liability
31			§ 257 Unskilled Workers Hiring
32			§ 258 Cattle Herdsman Hiring
34			§§ 259–60 Stealing Field Equipment
35			§§ 261–67 Cattle and Sheep Overseer Hiring and Liability
36			§§ 268–73 Working Animals and Carriage Renting
37			§ 274 Skilled Workers Hiring
38			§§ 275–77 Boats Renting
39			§§ 278–82 Slaves Buying and Ownership

Citation

Dedović, B. "Law Groups - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 10 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/lch/law-groups. [Accessed 3 Nov. 2024]

MLA 9

Dedović, B. (2023, October 10). Law Groups - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/lch/law-groups

APA 7

Dedović, Boban. "Law Groups - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 10, 2023. Modified January 25, 2024. Accessed November 3, 2024. https://ehlaw.org/lch/law-groups.

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

Handcock, Percy S.P. The Code of Hammurabi. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1920.

–

Harper, Robert F. The Code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon, about 2250 B.C.: Autographed Text, Transliteration, Translation, Glossary, Index of Subjects, Lists of Proper Names, Signs, Numerals, Corrections and Erasures, with Map, Frontispiece and Photograph of Text. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1904.

CHKB

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HAG3

Johns, Claude H.W. Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904.

–

Johns, Claude H.W. The Oldest Code of Laws in the World. Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark, 1911.

–

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. A Comprehensive Grammar to Hammurabi's Stele. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2014.

CGHS

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

RHL

Roth, Martha T., and Harry A. Hoffner. Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Edited by Piotr Michalowski. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press: 1995.

LCFM

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Law Groups in Hammurabi's Code

The Law Code of Hammurabi's 282 recognized laws may be organized into sixteen (16) distinct groups.

Law groups comparison table

Law Groups in Hammurabi's Law Code

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Law Groups in Hammurabi's Code

The Law Code of Hammurabi's 282 recognized laws may be organized into sixteen (16) distinct groups.

Law groups comparison table

Law Groups in Hammurabi's Law Code

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Bibliography

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