Queen Naqiya-Zakutu was a wife of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (r. 705–681 BC) and the mother of his son and successor Esarhaddon (r. 681–669).
Given the age at which she gave birth to Esarhaddon, Queen Zakutu could not have been born later than c. 728 BC. Her marriage to Assyrian King Sennacherib, when he was still crown prince under his father Sargon II, whom he succeeded c. 705 BC), likely took place by the late 8th century due to the birth of Esarhaddon c. 713.
It's probable that Queen Zakutu was also the mother of Sennacherib's only daughter known by name, Shadditu, since she retained a prominent position under Esarhaddon.
During his reign, King Sennacherib moved the empire's capital from his father's newly-constructed city of Dur-Sharrukin to the old city and former capital of Nineveh.
His first campaign took place in 703 BC against Marduk-apla-iddina II who had seized the throne of Babylon and gathered an alliance supported by Chaldeans, Aramaeans, and Elamites.
Elam was a son of Shem and founder of the Elamites. According to the Bible, the sons of Noah who came out of the ark, following the great flood (c. 2100 BC), were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
The Sargonid dynasty was the final ruling dynasty of Assyria, ruling as kings of Assyria for just over a century from the ascent of Sargon II in 722 BC to the fall of Assyria in 609 BC.
In 701 BC, King Hezekiah of Judah agreed to pay 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold as tribute to Assyria to avoid a siege of Jerusalem, ruled by King Sennacherib. Despite, Assyria responded by sending an army to reassert its control over Judah. Pharaoh Shebitku then sent his brother, Taharqa, to intercept the Assyrian army that besieged Jerusalem, the capital, and threatened to annihilate Judah. Taharqa’s combined Egyptian-Cushite army defeated the Assyrians at the Battle of Eltekeh in what is now Israel, freeing Judah and much of the Levant from Assyrian control.
Thus, Taharqa saved Jerusalem and the Hebrew society from destruction, a pivotal point in world and Hebrew history. The might of Taharqa's military forces was established at Eltekeh, leading to a period of peace in Egypt.
Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. In 586 BC, 136 years later, Nebbuchadnezzar conquered Judah, the southern kingdom and took many Jews captive to Babylon. Thirty-eight years after Judah was exiled, Babylon was conquered by the Persian Cyrus the Great. Cyrus encouraged the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
King Sennacherib is most notably remembered for his campaigns against Babylon and Judah.
"So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king." -2 Kings 19:36-37
Queen Zakutu authority grew in the reign of her Esarhaddon. Early on she built a palace for him in Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, and made an inscription commemorating the construction.
Though letters to Queen Zakutu were mostly about religious affairs, some concern politics. It is possible that she partook in Esarhaddon's rebuilding project of Babylon.
Sennacherib's favorite son and chosen heir, Ashur-nadin-shumi, was appointed ruler of Babylon from which he was kidnapped by the Elamites sometime around 695 BC.
Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons c. 681 BC and the murder is regularly attributed to his destroying the city of Babylon and carrying off the statue of the god Marduk, but it is equally probable they killed him simply to gain the throne and disenfranchise their younger brother, Esarhaddon.
Esarhaddon’s brothers took great exception to their father’s choice and, in fear for his life, Queen Zakutu sent him into hiding somewhere in the region formerly known as Mitanni.
Esarhaddon was then recalled from exile, probably by Queen Zakutu. He defeated his brothers in a six-week civil war, and took the throne; afterwards, he had his brothers’ families and associates executed.
The wife of Esarhaddon bore him twin sons, Ashurbanipal and Šamaš-šuma-ukin, whom he had designated respectively crown princes of Assyria and of Babylonia (c. 672 BC).
Šērūʾa-ēṭirat l, his eldest daughter and the older sister of his son and successor Ashurbanipal, was given in marriage to the Scythian chief, Bartatua.
Queen Zakutu authority grew in the reign of her son, King Esarhaddon. Early on she built a palace for him in Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, and made an inscription commemorating the construction.
Esarhaddon’s first task was to rally popular support, pursue the rebels into the mountains to the north, and execute the nobles who had aided them in Nineveh. This led to further operations to keep the northern trade routes open and to check the incursions of the Cimmerian tribesmen. In the east, the Midian chiefs were tamed by frequent raids and the imposition of vassal treaties watched over by local Assyrian garrisons. Further south, the Elamites continued to stir up the Babylonian tribes. Esarhaddon raided their territory and deported prisoners to other sites (Ezra 4:9, 10). With clever diplomacy he installed Na’id-Marduk of Bīt-Yakin, a son of the rebel Merodach-baladan, as local governor and secured long and loyal support. Esarhaddon devotee his attention to Egypt, which was the source of intrigue within the Syrian and Palestinian city-states. He raided the Bit-Eden area (Isa 37:12) and the Arabs (676 BC). Sidon was besieged and a treaty made with Ba’al of Tyre. Tribute was received from thirteen kings of the east Mediterranean islands and coast and twelve kings of the mainland including Tyre, Sidon, Edom, Moab, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gebal, Ashdod, Beth-Ammon as well as Manasseh (Akkad. Menasi) of Judah. There is as yet no mention in the Assyrian texts of Manasseh’s deportation to Babylon (2 Chron 33:11), though Esarhaddon, who had been viceroy there while crown prince, was then engaged in reconstruction of the city after its sack by his father and may have called in tributaries to help. An 8th century letter found at Nineveh records “10 mana of silver sent by the men of Judah” about this time. The terms imposed by Esarhaddon on his vassals, including Manasseh, are known from texts found at Nimrod.
The Midianites were the descendants of Midian, a son of Abraham through Keturah.
In 672 BC Esarhaddon publicly designated Ashurbanipal to be the crown-prince and future ruler of Assyria and his twin brother Shamash-shum-ukin to the same office in Babylonia. Among the vassal kings present to endorse this agreement would have been Manasseh of Judah. In 669 BC, his son Ashurbanipal came to the throne in Nineveh and continued operations against Egypt, the northern and eastern tribes (Cimmerians and Mannaeans), Elam, the Arabs, and Babylonia. Campaigns in the latter country followed the revolt of Shamash-shum-ukin who interfered with the direct control Ashurbanipal exercised over the strategic centers of Nippur, Erech, and Ur. These dated their documents by the years of the Assyrian king’s reign. Ashurbanipal advanced to support the beleaguered garrisons and defeated the Elamites, cutting off Babylon from its supporting tribesmen. Babylon itself fell after a two-year siege, and Shamash-shum-ukin is said to have committed suicide in his burning palace. In 640 BC Elam was invaded and Susa destroyed, some of its inhabitants exiled to Samaria.
Around 675 BC, Esarhaddon sent two expeditions against Egypt itself. Pharaoh Tirhakah (2 Kings 19:9) retreated to Nubia and Memphis fell. Assyrian control of the delta was by means of puppet governors. The first campaign ended by the Assyrians withdrawing with much loot “before a great storm.” Soon, however, local intrigue at Nineveh must have encouraged Tirhakah to stir up open revolt in Egypt itself. It was at Haran while on the way to suppress this that Esar-haddon fell sick and died (10 Marcheswan 681).
After her son's death, Queen Zakutu wrote a treaty so that all of Assyria would swear loyalty to her grandson Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631). She then appears to have retired from public life.
The Zakutu Treaty is considered a remarkable document as the only text of its kind written by someone other than the king. Some aspects of the treaty, for instance its brevity, indicate that it was created relatively hastily after Esarhaddon's death.
The Zakutu Treaty reads:
Treaty of Zakutu, queen of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, mother of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, (grandmother of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria) with Shamash-shum-ukin, his equal brother, with Shamash-metu-uballit and the rest of his brothers, with the king's relatives, with the officials and the governors, the bearded and the eunuchs, the courtiers, the exempted people, and everyone who enters the palace, with the people of Assyria, small and great: Anyone who (concludes) this treaty which Zakutu, the queen dowager, has imposed on all the people of Assyria on behalf of Ashurbanipal, her favorite grandson, anyone who should [...] lie and carry out a deceitful or evil plan or revolt against Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; in your hearts plot evil intrigue (or) speak slander against Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; in your hearts contrive (or) plan an evil mission (or) wicked proposal for rebellion (and) uprising against Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; [...] or conspire with another for the murder of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord: May [...] Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, [...] (And if) from this day on you (hear) an evil (plan) of conspiracy (and) rebellion against Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord, you shall come and report to Zakutu, his (grand)mother and Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; and if you hear of a (plot) to kill or destroy Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord, you shall come and report to Zakutu, his (grand)mother and Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; and if you hear of evil intrigue being contrived against Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord, you shall speak (of it) in the presence of Zakutu, his (grand) mother and Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord; and if you hear and know that there are men who agitate or conspire among you – whether bearded men or eunuchs, whether his brothers or royal relatives or your brothers or your friends or anyone in the whole country – should you hear or know, you shall seize and kill them and bring them to Zakūtu, his (grand) mother and Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, your lord.
—
Like this post? Stop by and read “Sammu-Ramat: Assyrian Queen, Wife of King Shamshi-Adad V, Mother of Adad Nirari III.” Queen Sammu-Ramat was the wife and queen of King Shamshi-Adad V (r. 824–811 BC), a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III.
I'd love to have you as a customer, head to the online store and shop for handcrafted beaded jewelry by beYOUteous.
Leave a comment