Esharra-hammat

Esharra-hammat (Akkadian: ''Ešarra-ḫammat'', meaning "Ešarra is mistress") was a queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the primary consort of Esarhaddon (681–669 BC). Esharra-hammat had been married to Esarhaddon for over a decade by the time he became king, having married him 695 BC. Few sources from Esharra-hammat's lifetime that mention her are known and she is thus chiefly known from sources dating to after her death in February 672 BC, an event which deeply affected Esarhaddon. Esarhaddon had a great mausoleum constructed for her, unusual for burials of Assyrian queens, and had her death recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles. Esharra-hammat might have been the mother of Esarhaddon's most prominent children, i.e. the daughter Serua-eterat and the sons Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin.

Life

Esharra-hammat married Esarhaddon 695 BC. According to the Austrian British Assyriologist Gwendolyn Leick, Esharra-hammat might have been of Babylonian ancestry. Esharra-hammat is known mainly from commemorative documents and inscriptions written after her death. Among the few known inscriptions written by Esharra-hammat (i.e. written when she was alive) is an inscription on an eye-stone marking it as her property.

Esharra-hammat's name translated literally means "Ešarra is mistress". Ešarra was a temple, and in Mesopotamian cosmology, the name Ešarra was also applied to a heavenly cosmic location. The name is perhaps best interpreted as " nowiki/>Mullissu_of.html" ;"title="Mullissu.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Mullissu">nowiki/>Mullissu of">Mullissu.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Mullissu">nowiki/>Mullissu ofEšarra is mistress", referencing the goddess associated with the temple/realm. Alternative translations and interpretations include the name just referring to the temple/realm itself, or that it should be read "[Mullissu of] Ešarra gathers [all the powers]" or "[In] Ešarra, she is mistress". Given that no other invidivual by the name Esharra-hammat is known, it is possible that the name was assumed by the future queen upon her marriage to Esarhaddon.

Esharra-hammat died, probably aged about 40, in February 672 BC. She is the only known queen of Esarhaddon. Although Esarhaddon was also only about 40, and would rule for a few more years, no incumbent queen is known from the sources after his death, and the position is obviously absent from preserved lists of officials from this time. The death of Esharra-hammat, which had shortly before been preceded by the death of one of their infant children, sunk Esarhaddon into depression, and he did not choose a new queen. Instead, some of the queen's responsibilities and duties were assigned to Esarhaddon's mother, Naqi'a. Though there are two surviving accounts of Esharra-hammat's funeral and the rituals performed for her, her grave has not yet been located. This grave was not just a simple site, or placed within the palace (as was the case for some earlier queens); Esarhaddon had a great mausoleum constructed for Esharra-hammat and he had her death recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.

It is known that Esarhaddon had other wives than Esharra-hammat, as his succession documents distinguish between the sons of " Ashurbanipal's mother" (Ashurbanipal being his son and successor) and the other sons. It is as such not known for certain which among Esarhaddon's at least 18 children were also Esharra-hammat's children. It is possible that Esarhaddon's most prominent children, the eldest daughter Serua-eterat and the sons Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin, were Esharra-hammat's children. Esharra-hammat's funeral was a grand affair, in which multiple distinguished women from the court and elsewhere partook, including Esharra-hammat's "daughter" and "daughter-in-law". I 2013, the Assyriologist David Kertai assumed the daughter referenced to be Serua-eterat, and suggested that the daughter-in-law could be Libbali-sharrat, the wife of Ashurbanipal.

At some point after Ashurbanipal was proclaimed Esarhaddon's heir later in 672 BC, three months after Esharra-hammat's death, Esarhaddon's chief exorcist Adad-shumu-usur reported to the king that Esharra-hammat's ghost had appeared to Ashurbanipal to confirm his status as heir. Partially quoting Ashurbanipal's words, Adad-shumu-usur presented the following account:

Notes

References

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

{{Sargonid dynasty
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Sargonid dynasty
8th-century BC births
672 BC deaths
Ancient Assyrians
Ancient Mesopotamian women
Assyrian queens
8th-century BC people