Dusigu

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Dusigu was the mistress of Irkab-Damu , King of Ebla , who possibly lived in the 24th century BC. Officiated. She was the mother of Isar-Damu , who was to succeed his father on the throne. Dusigu was the most influential woman at the court in Ebla for about 20 years.

In 1974, in the Syrian city ​​of Ebla, an archive containing several thousand texts was found, whose documents highlight the culture, society and history of that time. Before this find, almost no inscriptions from this era and from this region were known.

Irkab-Damu was probably very young when he came to the throne. He ruled probably 11 years and only married four years before his death. The name of his wife is unknown, but she died shortly after the marriage, perhaps giving birth to a child. Dusigu seems to have been a lady-in-waiting and lover of the ruler. She never had the formal title of queen ( maliktum ). Nothing is known about her family, but she may have been related to the Ebrian minister . Four sisters are known whose lives can be easily followed. After the death of Irkab-Damu, her son Isar-Damu came to the throne. He was probably the youngest of several children the ruler had, so he was probably very young. In documents, Dusigu often appears next to her son, for whom she probably also ruled in part. In the texts she bore the title mother of the king ( ama-gal en ). In the 14th year of his reign, the king married a lady-in-waiting named Tabur-damu , who was probably chosen by Dusigo. The new queen received the official title of queen, but Dusigu, as the queen's mother, seems to have remained the most important woman at court and is sometimes even mentioned in texts before the king. The news of victory in battle was brought to her, not the queen. She also had her own chariot and perhaps her own sedan chair.

She died in the 17th year of minister Ibbi-Zikkir . A text lists the rich gifts for her funeral. Ten mourners attended her funeral. Dusigu appears in numerous texts from Ebla, which are often not further dated and can be classified chronologically based on their person.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alfonso Archi : Ebla and Its Archives , De Gruyter, Boston, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-1-61451-716-0 , p. 24
  2. ↑ Maria Giovann Bigar: The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ebla Kingdom (Syria 24th century BC) , in Brigitten Lion, Cecile Michel (Editor): The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East , Berlin De Gruyter, Boston, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-1-61451-913-3 , 71-89 (here especially: 75)
  3. ↑ Bigar, in Lion, Michel (editor): The Role of Women , pp. 75-76
  4. ↑ Bigar, in Lion, Michel (editor): The Role of Women , pp. 76-77
  5. ^ Maria Giovanna Biga: Buried among the Living at Ebla? Funerary practices and rites in a XXIV cent. BC Syrian kingdom , in Gilda Bartoloni e M. Gilda Benedettin (editor): Sepolti tra i vivi, Buried among the Living, Scienze dell'antichità Storia Archeologia Antropologia 14/1 (2007-2008), p. 261
personal data
SURNAME Dusigu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Beloved of King Irkab-Damu, mother of King Isar-Damu
DATE OF BIRTH between 27th century BC BC and 23rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH between 27th century BC BC and 23rd century BC Chr.