Tabua ( akk, 𒋫𒁍𒀀 ''Ta-bu-a'') was a queen regnant of the Nomadic Arab tribes of

Qedar The Qedarites ( ar, قيدار, Qaydār) were a largely nomadic ancient Arab tribal confederation centred in the Wādī Sirḥān in the Syrian Desert. Attested from the 8th century BC, the Qedarites formed a powerful polity which expanded its ...

. She ruled in the 7th century BC, circa 675 BC. She succeeded queen Te'el-hunu.

Life

Tabua was the fifth of six Arab queens to be attested (as ''sarratu'') in Assyrian documents between

Tiglath-pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...

and

Assurbanipal Ashurbanipal (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne as ...

Zabibe Zabibe (also transliterated Zabibi, Zabiba, Zabibah; akk, 𒍝𒁉𒁉𒂊 ''Zabibê'') was a queen of Qedar who reigned for five years between 738 and 733 BC. She was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, and is mentioned in the An ...

, Samsi, Yatie, Te'el-hunu, Tabua and

Adia The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ( ar, جهاز أبوظبي للاستثمار, ADIA) is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates) founded for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the Gover ...

, the first five of them rulers.Eckart Frahm:
A Companion to Assyria
' Accoridning to Assyrians texts, she also served as ''apkal-latu'' (priestess) of her people. In 690 BC, the Assyrians under

Sennacherib Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynast ...

put an end to any potential threat to Assyria from the Southwest after the defeat of queen Te'el-hunu and her "male associate" Kaza'il, pillaged Adummatu and brought the queen captive to

Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...

with a great booty of camels, divine statues, spices and jewels. When

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...

became king of Assyria, he made peace with the Qedarites in Adummatu by sending back the divine statues of

Alilat Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, pre-Islamic Arabian List of pre-Islamic Arabian deities, goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entir ...

, Nuhay and

Orotalt According to the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus, Orotalt ( grc, Ὀροτάλτ) was a Deity, god of pre-Islamic Arabia whom he Interpretatio graeca, identified with the Greek god Dionysus: Also known as Dushara, Đū Shará or Dushara ...

along with Princess Tabua, the relative and successor of Te'el-hunu, who may have been the daughter of Te'el-hunu and Sennacherib. Tabua had been raised in the royal palace of Sennacherib and was placed upon the throne as an ally of the Assyrians. Initially, she appears to have been accepted by the Quedarites, but after but a short reign, she seems to have been replaced by them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabua Arab queens Midian Ancient queens regnant 7th-century BC women rulers 7th-century BC Arabs Year of birth missing Year of death missing Ancient Near Eastern women