Book XII the Code of Maimonides bears the name Sefer Kinyan. We have translated it as 'The Book of Acquisition'. However, the Hebrew term Kinyan means not only acquisition but also ownership of property and, further, the rights and obligations stemming from it. It is because of this wider meaning of the term that, in aiming at a systematic exposition of the laws of Kinyan, Maimonides includes in this book laws other than those pertaining to acquisition of property, such as the laws governing slaves and the legal regulations that apply to neighbors.