Šammuramat

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Stele of the Šammuramat, found in Assur

Šammuramat (also Šammu-ramat or Shamuramat ) was an Assyrian queen, wife of Šamšī-Adad V (824-810 BC) and mother of Adad-nīrārī III. (810-782 BC). It is believed that they have a daughter of the Babylonian king Marduk-zakir-šumi I was. As a Babylonian princess, she had greater influence on Assyrian politics even during her husband's lifetime. After his death, she is said to have ruled the Assyrian Empire alone for a few years and also defended it militarily until her underage son was mature enough for his task as heir to the throne.

However, it is controversial among historians whether Šammuramat actually appeared as regent or co-regent alongside her son at a time and in a realm in which women in leadership positions were actually unthinkable, or whether she in the background as his mother only exerted her influence on the young King has exercised. Numerous inscriptions prove that she must have been an extraordinarily powerful and energetic woman in any case.

The connection between her and the mythical Queen Semiramis is also controversial . Šammuramat is translated as Semiramis in the Greek language and this is one of the reasons why she is often viewed as the historical person behind the legend.

Life

Her exact life dates are unknown. Your birth will be around the year 840 BC. Estimated. According to an inscription written by the governor of Kalḫu for the inauguration of the under Adad-nīrārī III. built Nabû TEMPLE in 787 v. At least at that time she was still alive. Her death is suspected a few years later.

Her marriage to Šamšī-Adad V took place at a time when the Assyrian Empire was considerably weakened. Against his older brother Aššur-danin-apla, who started a rebellion against the father Šulmanu-ašared III. had instigated, he was only able to assert himself after the death of his father and a total of about six years of civil war. It can be presumed that his marriage was related to his father's policy of favoring Babylon. In view of the threat from the Aramaeans and Medes , Šammuramat is said to have campaigned for an alliance with their original homeland. There is evidence that the Babylonian language gained in importance in Assyria and the worship of the deity Nabû , which in popularity in Babylon at that time was just overtaking the prevailing Marduk cult, expanded beyond the borders to Assyria. In Kalach (Assyrian for Nimrud ) a large Nabû temple with library and archive was built by her son and it was opened in 787 BC. Consecrated, in which important state documents were also kept. However, to subject her to a subordination to Babylon, which Šamšī-Adad V had to put up with in a difficult situation when a treaty was concluded towards the end of the civil war, or that she sought a unification of the rival empires, is considered absurd and misunderstanding the political situation . Irrespective of her inclination towards the Babylonian culture, Šammuramat worked very successfully to consolidate and expand the power of the Assyrian Empire for her husband and later for her son.

It is believed that Šammuramat accompanied her husband on at least one military campaign and that he planned and led campaigns on his own after his death. Whether or not this assumption is true is controversial. In their time it was possible to stabilize the Assyrian Empire, to repel the attacks of the Medes and not only to defeat the Arameans, but even to conquer their Upper Mesopotamian power center Gozan and incorporate it into the empire. Domestically, too, Šammuramat is said to have achieved considerable success, with a functioning administration and jurisdiction and, not least, through brisk construction activity. From the Greek philosopher Herodotus , who on his travels around 450 BC. BC, who visited Babylon in Persia at the time and did research on Assyrian history, she is credited with building a large irrigation system in the Euphrates plain.

Legend of the Semiramis

As an early female ruler of the Orient, Šamuramat, later also together with the New Assyrian Queen Naqia ( Assyrian : Zakutu), soon after her death became the center of sagas and legends, from which the mythical figure of Semiramis emerged . This was said to be divine origin, unearthly beauty and intelligence, but also female cunning, extravagant lifestyle and a mysterious end. With the exception of the name transferred into Greek, there is hardly any connection between the legends and the historical life and work of Šammuramat. In any case, it is certain that Šammuramat had nothing to do with the Hanging Gardens of the Semiramis, which were one of the seven wonders of the world .

Historians' dispute over the reign

For the question of a reign of Šammuramat, two royal steles are particularly important. The first stele was found in 1905 south of Saba'a at the foot of the Jabal Sinjar and is now in the Istanbul Museum . It is dedicated to Adad and was built by Nergal-ereš , the governor of Rasappa . The second stele was found in 1967 in a late Assyrian shrine in Tell al-Rimah (Zamihi / Zamahu), apparently still in situ , i.e. in its original position, an absolute exception for Assyrian royal steles. It shows Adad-nirari in a striding position, a staff in his left hand and with symbols of gods next to his head. It is also consecrated to Adad and donated by Nergal-ereš. The inscription tells of the king's campaign in Syria during his first year of reign, during which he received the tribute from Mari 'of Aram and reached the city of Arwad , "which lies in the middle of the sea". This campaign is usually started in 806. According to the eponymous chronicle, Adad-nirari III. this year, however, against the kingdom of Mannai . Since the statue of Saba'a sets the same campaign in the fifth year of the king, some researchers assume that the counting of the Tell-al-Rimah stele relates to the first independent year of Adad-nirari's reign, and he and his mother beforehand ruled.

Well-known historians assume, however, that Adad-nirari undertook several campaigns per year, only one of which is mentioned on the stele. The interpretation of the word rabîš on the Saba'a stele is also discussed . It can be interpreted either as "powerful" or as an "independent ruler". The latter interpretation would suggest a previous co-reign, after which the king is now seated rabîš on his throne in his fifth year , but this is also considered unlikely by some historians.

literature

  • Walter Andrae :… In: Scientific negotiations of the German Orient Society. Volume 24, 1913, No. 5.
  • Walter Andrae: The rows of steles in Assur (Part 11 - The old palace in Assur ). Zeller, Osnabrück 1972 (reprint of the Leipzig 1913 edition).
  • Wilhelm Eilers: Semiramis . Origin and reverberation of an ancient oriental legend. In: Meeting reports of the Austrian Academy of Sciences / Philological-Historical Class. 274/2, 1971.
  • Carl Ferdinand Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt : The historical Semiramis and their time. Lecture given in the DOG in Berlin on February 6, 1910. Mohr, Tübingen 1910.
  • Heinrich Lewy: Nitokris-Naqî'a . In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 11, 1952, pp. 264-286.
  • Wolfgang Schramm: Was Semiramis Assyrian Regent? In: Historia. Volume 21, 1972, pp. 513-521.
  • Eckhard Unger : Relief stele Adadniraris III. from Saba'a and Semiramis. Ihsan, Constantinople 1916.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Hartmut Schmökel : Rulers of the Ancient Orient - Semiramis . In: Exempla historica - Epochs of World History in Biographies . tape 1 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-17001-X , p. 127-140 .
  2. ^ Giovanni Pettinato : Semiramis - Mistress of Assur and Babylon , Artemis Verlag Zurich and Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7608-0748-8 , p. 269
  3. ↑ Josua J. Mark: Sammu-Ramat and Semiramis: The impression and the myth. In: Ancient History Encyclopedia. September 16, 2014, accessed June 1, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Hartmut Schmökel : Ur, Assur and Babylon . In: Great Cultures of the Early Period . (Partial volume without numbering). Phaidon Verlag, Akademische / Athenaion, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-88851-091-0 , p. 101 .
  5. ↑ a b Stephanie Page: Adad-nirari III. and Semiramis. The Stelae of Saba'a and Rima . In: Orientalia, NS . tape 38 , 1969, p. 457-458 .
personal data
SURNAME Šammuramat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shamuramat
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Assyrian queen, wife of Šamšī-Adad V.
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 8th century BC Chr.