Title and symbol of the queen , the queen of
Shalmaneser IV (783–773 BC). She is depicted (right) in reverence before a goddess (left). Note the scorpion symbol behind the goddess, a commonly used symbol for queens.The
Akkadian cuneiform term used to designate the queen in the
Neo-Assyrian Empire was , or , which would be rendered in
Assyrian as
issi ekalli, literally meaning "Woman of the Palace". The term could also perhaps be abbeviated to
sēgallu, with the same meaning. Modern historians recognize the Neo-Assyrian "Women of the Palace" as queens, though this diverges from the ancient Assyrian terminology. The feminine version of the word for "king" (
šarru) was
šarratu, but this term was only applied to goddesses and queens of foreign nations who ruled in their own right. Since the Assyrian consorts did not rule themselves, the Assyrians did not refer to them as
šarratu. The difference in terminology does not necessarily mean that foreign queens, who often governed significantly smaller territories than the Neo-Assyrian Empire, were seen as having a higher status than the Assyrian queens. Still, a handful of modern historians, such as Sarah C. Melville, prefer to designate the Assyrian queens simply as "wives" or "consorts". The title of "Woman of the Palace" was a new invention of the Neo-Assyrian period; in the
Middle Assyrian Empire, which directly preceded the Neo-Assyrian Empire, queens were designated as
aššat šarre ("Wife of the King"). As the Neo-Assyrian period progressed, further titles were introduced for royal women, perhaps in response to confusing situations that could arise in regard to what former queens and wives of other members of the royal family should be called. Under
Sargon II (722–705 BC), the title
bēlat bēti ("Lady of the House") was introduced for the wife of the
crown prince. The title
ummi šari ("Mother of the King") is attested first under Sargon's successor
Sennacherib (705–681 BC), and might best be understood as equating to the position of
Queen mother, i.e. a former queen who was also the mother of the current king. The
ummi šari could retain a prominent position for life;
Naqi'a, wife of Sennacherib and mother of his successor
Esarhaddon (681–669 BC), was still attested with the title of
ummi šari in the reign of her grandson
Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC), despite no longer being the mother of the reigning king. A frequently used symbol, apparently the royal symbol of the queens themselves, that was used in documents and on objects to designate the queens was a scorpion. In Mesopotamian art, scorpions were closely connected with fertility and they are known from artwork as a religious symbol from prehistoric times. Another possible association was that the scorpion symbol represented the queen as a fierce and ideal mother; the term for a female scorpion was
tārit zuqaqīpi (), closely related to the term
tarû ("to arise, to pick up", also used in the meaning of "child-nurse" or "nanny").
Position and power (681–669 BC; right) and his mother
Naqi'a (left)|left Though the queens, like all other female and male members of the royal court, ultimately derived their power and influence from their association with the king, they were not pawns without political power. The queens had their own say in financial affairs and while they ideally were supposed to produce an heir to the throne, they also had several other duties and responsibilities, often in very high levels of the government. The Neo-Assyrian queens are recorded to have been involved in arranging religious activities, such as rituals, and to have supported temples financially and dedicated gifts to the gods. It is also clear that they played a role in making political decisions. The queens commanded the respect of numerous high-ranking officials and had their own considerable financial resources, evidenced not only by surviving texts concerning their household and activities but also the treasures uncovered in their tombs. It is clear that the queens were prominent in Assyrian society since there is ample evidence of the kings giving them particular recognition. Sennacherib in inscriptions concerning the construction of palaces at
Nineveh publicly described his queen
Tashmetu-sharrat as his "beloved wife, whose features [the goddess]
Belit-ili has made perfect above all women". When Esarhaddon's wife Esharra-hammat died, he constructed a great
mausoleum in her honor. The queens employed their own extensive staff and the administrative unit of their households was an integral part of the administration of the empire until its fall. The queen's household held extensive swaths of land and many offices throughout the Neo-Assyrian Empire and employed hundreds of people. The queen's staff was headed by a set of female administrators, titled
šakintu, who themselves had considerable resources and their own large staffs. It is probable that the
šakintu ran the provincial holdings of the queens relatively autonomously. Among the staff of the
šakintu were both men and women, with positions such as village managers, palace overseers, chief bakers and treasurers, as well as workers such as weavers, shepherds and leatherworkers. It is possible that the main enterprise of the many holdings was textile production, meant to supply textiles both the royal palace in the capital and for trading purposes. In the reign of Sargon II, military units subservient to the queen were created. Perhaps worried of the authority of the
Turtanu (
commander-in-chief), Sargon also split that office into two, one Turtanu being assigned to the queen's forces. Under the later kings of the Sargonid dynasty, the troops assigned to the queen grew more numerous and diverse; it was not limited simply to bodyguards; among the queen's troops were cohorts of
infantry,
chariots and several commanders. Some of the queen's troops are attested as taking part in military campaigns, which means that they were not simply the
honor guard of the queens but also a part of the military might of the empire. The title "Woman of the Palace" places greater emphasis on the queen's role in regard to the royal palace than her association with the king, which implies that their role as "rulers over the domestic realm" was more important than that they were the chief consorts of the kings. Further indicating their strong association with the palace was that the
Queens' tombs at Nimrud, containing the remains of several queens, were found beneath the floor of one of the royal palaces in the then capital city of
Nimrud; the queens were thus buried in the palace, not alongside the kings in the royal tombs of
Assur, Assyria's religious and ceremonial center.. This particular crown is evocative of headgear depicted in
Levantine art.Though reign of Esarhaddon was in particular a time when royal women were able to exercise great political power, perhaps on account of Esarhaddon's distrust of his male relatives,'''''' there were powerful women in the empire before that point as well. The most powerful and famous Neo-Assyrian queen was
Shammuramat, the wife of
Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 BC). Though references to her are scant from the reign of her husband, Shammuramat reached a position of power upon his death and the accession of their son
Adad-nirari III (811–783 BC). Adad-nirari III was quite young at the time of his accession and a handful of sources from his early reign continued to refer to Shammuramat as queen, perhaps suggesting that she ruled in her own right as
regent. An inscription on a boundary stone suggests that Shammuramat herself partook in a military campaign with her son. In later legends Shammuramat was immortalized as the legendary queen
Semiramis. Esarhaddon's mother Naqi'a was also very powerful after Sennacherib's death; she owned her own residencies in most of the major Assyrian cities, was likely extremely wealthy and on her own accord commissioned a new palace for her son in Nineveh.
Scholarly disputes and issues It is not clear how exactly the position of queen was connected to the position of king. While the queen most for the majority of the time have been the consort of the king, there is scholarly dispute in regards to whether the queen retained her title and status after the death of the king, or whether the title and position was automatically and directly transferred to the wife of the succeeding king. Most historians support the idea that the title only applied to the primary wife of the reigning king, with the title not being retained upon the death of the king. Some scholars have suggested, based on issues with identifying queens from administrative documents, that there could perhaps be multiple women with the title "Women of the Palace" at any one given time. In 2004, Sarah C. Melville suggested that the term was used differently within and outside the royal palace, with there only being one "Woman of the Palace" in regard to the empire but that multiple women could carry the title while within the royal palace. Although Assyrian kings are known to have had multiple wives, or at least female partners, there are serious problems with the idea of multiple "Women of the Palace". Most importantly, Assyrian documents always use the term without any further qualifiers, which suggests that it referred unambiguously to the main wife of the king. Most historians support the idea that there was only one "Woman of the Palace" at any one given time. Scholarly investigations are made more difficult by there not being any concrete remaining textual evidence describing the royal wedding ceremony, nor listing the number of royal wives. == Attire and regalia ==