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Libbāli-šarrat ( Akkadian: ''Libbāli-šarrat'', meaning "the inner city Ishtar?">Ishtar.html" ;"title="Ishtar">Ishtar?is queen") was a queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the primary consort of
Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...
(669–631 BC). Libbāli-šarrat married Ashurbanipal before he became king, probably in 672 BC, and may have lived beyond her husband's death, as documents from the reign of her probable son, Ashur-etil-ilani (631–627 BC) reference the "mother of the king". Libbāli-šarrat enjoys the distinction of being the only known individual from ancient Assyria who was not a king to be depicted holding court since she is depicted in one of Ashurbanipal's reliefs as hosting him at dinner in the palace garden, surrounded by her own female servants.


Life


Wife of the crown prince

It is not clear when Libbāli-šarrat married
Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...
. The queen of Ashurbanipal's father
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
(681–669 BC),
Ešarra-ḫammat Ešarra-ḫammat (, meaning "Ešarra is mistress") was a queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the primary consort of Esarhaddon (681–669 BC). Ešarra-ḫammat had been married to Esarhaddon for over a decade by the time he became king, having ma ...
, died in February 672 BC. Contemporary documents recording Ešarra-ḫammat's funeral arrangements record the presence of the queen's daughter and daughter-in-law. Presumably, the daughter was the eldest daughter,
Šērūʾa-ēṭirat Šērūʾa-ēṭirat ( or , meaning "Šerua is the one who saves"), called Saritrah (Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic: , ) in later Aramaic texts), was an ancient Assyrian princess of the Sargonid dynasty, the eldest daughter of Esarhaddon and the o ...
, and the daughter-in-law might have been Libbāli-šarrat. In that case, Libbāli-šarrat's marriage to Ashurbanipal took place before Ešarra-ḫammat's death, but the daughter-in-law mentioned could also be the wife of another of Ashurbanipal's sons. The Assyriologist
Simo Parpola Simo Kaarlo Antero Parpola (born 4 July 1943) is a Finnish Assyriologist specializing in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Professor emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki (retired fall 2009). Career Simo Parpola studied Assyriology, C ...
believes that Libbāli-šarrat did not marry Ashurbanipal until around the time he became crown prince, in May 672 BC. The name is unique and not known to have been borne by any other individual. Because it also incorporates the element ("queen") it might not be her birth name, but rather a name she assumed upon her marriage to Ashurbanipal or when he was designated as crown prince and heir by Esarhaddon. Translated literally, means "the inner city is queen". "The inner city" might be a term for the goddess
Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
. Alternatively, the name should perhaps be interpreted as " nthe inner city, he goddessis queen". was also the name of the ancient temple quarter at
Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
, Assyria's religious center. There may have existed some tension between Libbāli-šarrat and Ashurbanipal's sister Šērūʾa-ēṭirat. In 670 BC, near the end of Esarhaddon's reign, Šērūʾa-ēṭirat wrote a letter to Libbāli-šarrat in which she reprimanded the future queen for not studying and informed her that while Libbāli-šarrat would one day become queen, Šērūʾa-ēṭirat still outranked her as she was the king's daughter. An alternative reading of the letter is that it was a somewhat brusque attempt at trying to help Libbāli-šarrat adjust to royal life, not an attempt to put her in her place. Šērūʾa-ēṭirat's letter suggested that Libbāli-šarrat may not have been able to read and write at this time, and that shame would be brought on the royal family if she would be unable to do so after becoming queen. Although Libbāli-šarrat, as the wife of a member of the Assyrian royal family, would have long been groomed for her role, the letter illustrates that becoming the wife of the crown prince still required big adjustments at even a quite late stage. As can be inferred from later documents, Libbāli-šarrat did learn to read and write properly and in time began to share the scholarly and literary interests of her husband, who is famous for assembling the
Library of Ashurbanipal The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BCE, including texts in ...
.


Queen of Assyria

Beginning under reforms initiated by
Sargon II Sargon II (, meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is generally believed to have be ...
(722–705 BC), the queens of the
Sargonid dynasty The Sargonid dynasty was the final ruling dynasty of Assyria, ruling as kings of Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian Empire for just over a century from the ascent of Sargon II in 722 BC to the fall of Assyria in 609 BC. Although Assyria would ul ...
of Assyrian kings had their own military units sworn directly to them. Among the military staff of Libbāli-šarrat was the chariot driver Marduk-šarru-uṣur, who distinguished himself in the 652–648 civil war against Ashurbanipal's brother Shamash-shum-ukin. Libbāli-šarrat is famously depicted along with Ashurbanipal in Ashurbanipal's "Garden Party" relief, wherein the two are depicted as dining, surrounded by Libbāli-šarrat's female servants, with Libbāli-šarrat herself sitting opposite her husband in a high-backed chair. Ashurbanipal meanwhile is depicted reclining on a couch. The royal couple are in the relief raising their cups up in celebration over Ashurbanipal's 653 BC victory over
Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
, with the head of the Elamite king
Teumman Teumman was a king of the ancient kingdom of Elam, ruling it from 664 to 653 BCE, contemporary with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668 – c. 627). In various sources, the name may be found spelled as Te’umman, Teumann, or Te-Umman. For a time, ...
hanging from one of the trees. Libbāli-šarrat's high status as consort is illustrate in the relief by how close she is to the king as well as her jewelry and dress. Ashurbanipal is shown to have greater power still, as he is depicted slightly larger and higher up in the image. A striking detail with the "Garden Party" relief, however, is that while Ashurbanipal does not wear his crown, Libbāli-šarrat does. The fact that she is seated while Ashurbanipal is reclining is also significant, since sitting on a throne was a divine and royal privilege. This means that the entire scene is actually organized around Libbāli-šarrat, rather than Ashurbanipal. The relief is the only known surviving image from ancient Assyria depicting an individual other than the king not only effectively holding court but also hosting the king. In addition to the "Garden Party" relief, another contemporary depiction of Libbāli-šarrat, on a stele, is known. This portrait shows the queen in a formal pose making some form of ritualistic gesture with a plant. Noblewomen in Assyria, including queens, regularly made donations to temples and dedications to the gods as a way to garner divine favor and support. One such dedication written by Libbāli-šarrat is known, which reads: Libbāli-šarrat was presumably the mother of Ashurbanipal's immediate successors,
Aššur-etil-ilāni Aššur-etil-ilāni, also spelled Ashur-etel-ilani' and Ashuretillilani (, meaning " Ashur is the lord of the Tree"),' was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 631 BC to 627 BC. Aššur-etil-ilāni is an obscure figure with a brief reign fr ...
(669–631 BC) and
Sîn-šar-iškun Sîn-šar-iškun ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has established the king")' was the penultimate king of Assyria, reigning from the death of his brother and predecessor Aššur-etil-ilāni in 627 BC to his own death at the Fall of Nineveh ...
(669–631 BC), given that sons born of Ashurbanipal's lower-ranking wives, such as a son by the name of Ninurta-sharru-usur, appear to not have played any political roles. Libbāli-šarrat might have lived for some time after Ashurbanipal's death in 631 BC, as there is a tablet dating to Ashur-etil-ilani's reign referencing the "mother of the king".


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References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Sargonid dynasty Neo-Assyrian Empire Sargonid dynasty 7th-century BC births Ancient Assyrians Ancient Mesopotamian women Assyrian queens Year of death unknown 7th-century BC people 7th-century BC women Ashurbanipal