Naqia

Naqia was the northwest Semitic name ( Assyrian Zakutu ; * around 730 BC ; † around 668 BC ) of the wife of the Assyrian king Sennacherib , whom she spoke to before 712 BC. Married. Her name means purity in Assyrian and Semitic terms . She was a daughter-in-law of Sargon , mother of Azarhaddon and grandmother of Ashurbanipal . Her ancestry is not clear because the sources do not tell whether she was originally from Choir or Babylonia .

Naqia held the rank of palace woman (MUNUS. E.GAL : woman of the great house ). When in 683 BC When her son Asarhaddon was appointed heir to the throne, Naqia may have exerted her influence because the older half-brother Arda-Mulissu was passed over. Asarhaddon's interests, who was in exile during the murder of Sennacherib , Naqia emphatically represented before the priesthood. Following Asahaddon's accession to the throne, she had a palace built for him in Nineveh .

Asarhaddon's illness was an opportunity for Naqia to conduct more inquiries about oracles . Especially during the reign of her son, her influence and reputation increased. For example, her wealth has been compared to that of Adapa . However , Naqia did not hold a partially presumed governor of Babylonia.

When in 669 BC When her grandson Ashurbanipal came to the throne in BC , Naqia had reached the height of her power. Her name appeared first in the early days of the Assurbanipal government, while Assurbanipal's name was always mentioned after hers. In this function she made the financially strong families of Assyria swear an oath of allegiance to Assurbanipal. Naqia died a short time later, as no further news from her has been documented in the following years.

literature

• Dietz-Otto Edzard : History of Mesopotamia. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51664-5 .
• Eckhart Frahm: Introduction to the Sanherib inscriptions. Archive for Orient Research Bh. 26, Vienna 1997.