The fraternal birth order effect in the royal house of Nineveh (original) (raw)
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Iğdır Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2024
Assyrians had a monarchical structure in which a king, who came to power through inheritance from a specific family, held absolute authority. At times, this form of governance manifested as a theocratic monarchy, where every political action found its legitimacy on religious grounds. Regarding succession, it is evident that practices were carried out with divine approval and request as guiding principles. The heir in question could be any of the king's natural children, but children born to kings from their second wives or slaves could not ascend to the throne through conventional means. Periodically, kings appointed their children as administrators in various cities, including Babylon, to gain experience in state affairs. The permanence of the designated heir's position and their ascension to the throne upon the king's death were not guaranteed.Additionally, historical records reveal instances where kings changed the crown prince for various reasons. These changes might be attributed to the inadequacy of the crown prince or could result from the influence of queens, as the mother of the chosen crown prince held a significant position within the Assyrian hierarchy. In this study, which is based on cuneiform texts and modern works, the objective is to comprehensively examine the role of the heir apparent in the Assyrian state system, providing insights through periodic examples. Additionally, it seeks to unveil the complex relationships between heirs, kings, queens, and other princes.
From the earliest Mesopotamian literature, royal inscriptions were written with the need to commemorate and preserve the king’s deeds. Along with several literary devices, titles and epithets were denotative elements bounded together on an archetypal approach to Near Eastern kingship. Despite the biasness of their contents, they were still part of a geopolitical and sociocultural environment. The references to both Tukultī-ninurta I and Šamšī-adad V (who ruled during the Middle and Early NeoAssyrian periods, respectively) provide a theoretical framework on the incorporation of Southern royal titles among Assyrian royal inscriptions. These include titles such as ‘King of Sumer and Akkad’, ‘King of Karduniaš’, among others. However, the rise of the Sargonids (VIII-VII BC) accentuates the malleability of these titles.
Daughters and Sisters of Neo-Hittite and Aramaean Rulers in the Assyrian Harem, 2001
-La présente étude s'intéresse à la composition ethnique du harem assyrien entre 934 et 745 ay. J.-C.; l'auteur en profite pour s'interroger à nouveau sur les origines de la fameuse reine assyrienne Sammuramat (Sémiramis). De nombreuses références relatives à l'appropriation de filles, de soeurs et de femmes de rois hittites et araméens se trouvent dans le corpus des inscriptions royales assyriennes. Un examen de ces inscriptions révèle que durant les règnes des deux plus puissants rois assyriens, Assurnasirpal II et Shalmanasar III, 96 à 100% des femmes nobles reçues comme tribut ou prises de force vinrent des territoires situés à l'ouest de l'empire (comprenant la Syrie). Alors que ce pourcentage est beaucoup plus bas durant les périodes qui précèdent et qui suivent. La reine Sémiramis serait peut-être venue de ces régions à l'ouest de l'empire, notamment de Syrie? ABSTRACT-This brief study investigates the ethnographic composition of the Assyrian harem in the early first millennium BC (934-745 BC) as well as reassesses the origin of the famous Assyrian queen Sammuramat (Semiramis). Numerous references to the approp riation of daughters, sisters, and «women of the palace» of Neo-Hititte (Luwian) and Aramaean ruters are found in the extensive corpus of Assyrian royal insc riptions. An examination of these insc riptions reveats that during the reigns of the two most powerful Assyrian monarchs of the Earty Neo-Assyrian Period, Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC), 96 to 100% of the «royal» and/or «noble» women received as tribute or taken by force came from territories west of Assyria proper. However, in the periods immediately preceding (934-884 BC) and following (823-747 BC) these two kings, the percentage is much lower, ranging between 6 to 67%. In addition, the origin of sammuramat (Semiramis) is reassessed in light of the approp ri ation of «royal» and «noble» women during the reign of Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC). This statement could also apply to the Early Neo-Assyrian Period (934-745 BC), the period being considered in this manuscript. 1 A.K. Grayson, G. Frame and P.E. Dion kindly served as readers for this manuscript and made numerous valuable comments. In addition, J. Jones, serving as a non-specialist reader, proofed the final edition of this paper and offered helpfut suggestions. Their time and care is greatly appreciated. Moreover, I woutd also like to thank Dr. L. Shiff, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada who suppo rt the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Project, whose archives were an invaluable resource in the preparation of this article. Harem, derived from Arabic harem, meaning "unlawful," "protected," or "forbidden," is taken in its secular meaning, referring to a separate, protected pa rt of a household where women, children, and se rvants reside in maximum seclusion and protection, and to the women themselves. In India it is referred to as purdah, as it 'ing in Chinese, and as enderun or zenane in Persian.