Nitokris (Assyria)

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Nitokris is a queen of Babylon mentioned in the Histories of Herodotus (I, 184-188) .

Herodotus (I, 184) knows Nitokris as one of the two queens who ruled all of Asia - the other was five generations before her Semiramis . Nitokris is said to have changed the course of the Euphrates after the conquest of Ninos ( Niniveh ) by the Medes in order to give Babylon greater protection. These measures also included the creation of an artificial lake above the city. The earth removed in the process had been heaped up to form a dam (I, 185). She is also credited with building a brick and wooden bridge over the Euphrates. The wooden beams could be removed at night to protect against thieves (I, 186). After all, she is said to have erected a tomb for herself above the city's busiest gate, which Darius opened in the mistaken expectation of great riches (I, 187).

Herodotus names Labynetus , the last king of Babylon, as Nitokris' son , against whom Cyrus II went to the field (I, 188). Whether this Labynetus with the Babylonian named in I, 74, who lived together with the Syennesis of Cilicia around 585 BC. BC mediated a peace treaty between Lydia and the Medes, is identical, or whether it is the father of the same name of Labynetus - probably invented by Herodotus because of the chronological difficulties - is disputed.

The possible historical core behind the Nitokris tradition is also controversial. Naqia , the wife of Sennacherib and mother Asarhaddon , and Adad-happe , the actual mother of Nabonidus , are discussed as possible models . Legends about Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar II could also have flowed into the Greek historian's account. The name Nitokris is not of Babylonian origin, rather it points to Egypt. Herodotus also mentions an Egyptian queen of the same name (II, 100), and Nebetneferumut , a daughter of Psamettich I , is also known as Nitokris.

literature

Fiction

  • Heinz Welten : Nitokris. The priestess of the Istar. Historical novel, Berlin 1923 (= The Battle for Babylon , Part I), new edition: Voltmedia, Paderborn (2005), ISBN 3-937229-34-5