Nitocris of Babylon (c. 550 BC) is an otherwise unknown queen regnant[1] of Babylon described by Herodotus in his Histories. According to Histories of Herodotus, among sovereigns of Babylon two were women, Semiramis and Nitocris.[2] Nitocris is credited by Herodotus with various building projects in Babylon. She is also said to have tricked Darius I by placing her tomb above a gate so that no Persian could pass below and enter through. According to the account, Darius was lured in by a mysterious inscription that served as a trap for greedy kings.[3][4] According to Herodotus she was the wife of Nabonidus (Greek Labynētos) against whose son an expedition was launched by Cyrus the Great.[5][6] Dougherty and Beaulieu identify the son as Belshazzar.[7]
If this is the case, she is most likely the queen in the story of Belshazzar's feast, and she is identified as such in Handel's oratorio Belshazzar.
- ^ Smith, Philip (1871). The Ancient History of the East: From the Earliest Times to the Conquest by Alexander the Great : Including Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Persia, Asia Minor, and Phoenicia. Harper. p. 344.
Herodotus (i. 185) ascribes these works to Nitocris, whom he clearly regards as a queen regnant, and whom he makes the mother of "Labynētos" (i. e., Nabonadius) the last king of Babylon (i. 188).
- ^ Herodotus. "History". Classics dept. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- ^ Notes and Discussions Darius and the Tomb of Nitocris Jstor.org of
- ^ Herodotus, Histories I.185
- ^ Dougherty, Raymond Philip (2008). Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 38, 40–42, 65. ISBN 978-1-55635-956-9. Citing Herodotus, The Histories, 1.188
- ^ Cf. Wiseman, D.J. (2004). Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon: The Schweich Lectures. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 0-19-726100-0. According to Wiseman, "Nabonidus is known to have been in his self-imposed exile for ten . . . years. Belshazzar was co-regent during his absence".
- ^ Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (1989). The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 556-559 B.C. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 80, 81. ISBN 0-300-04314-7.