Naqīʾa/Zakūtu and Her Role in Managing the Succession Crisis and Constructing Legitimacy in the Neo-Assyrian Empire A Historical-Analytical Study Based on Cuneiform Texts and Artistic Evidence

Abstract

This study examines Naqīʾa/Zakūtu, whose textual and political presence is attested approximately from the closing years of Sennacherib’s reign to the beginning of Ashurbanipal’s reign (c. 704–668 BCE), as one of the most prominent royal women of the Neo-Assyrian period. Her importance did not derive from family position alone. It also arose from her contribution to affirming royal descent and from her institutional and religious presence at two decisive moments in Sargonid history: Esarhaddon’s accession after the assassination of Sennacherib, and the safeguarding of Ashurbanipal’s succession after Esarhaddon’s death.

The study begins with direct cuneiform evidence: the building inscription concerning Esarhaddon’s palace at Nineveh; votive inscriptions recording objects presented to deities; the Zakūtu Treaty; the communication addressed to the Queen Mother among texts that record speech attributed to the gods; and correspondence sent by court scholars and priests. It then relates this textual dossier to the Louvre bronze plaque AO 20185, a rare sculpture that bears Naqīʾa’s name and places her behind an Assyrian king in a scene of royal and religious significance (Figure 1).( )

The study neither presents Naqīʾa/Zakūtu as a ruling queen nor confines her to the private role of a mother within the palace. It argues instead that her authority was composite, formed through royal descent, the Queen’s Household, votive acts, communications attributed to divine inspiration, oaths, and official sculpture. Her historical importance lies in the manner in which she operated within the structure of Assyrian government and made royal motherhood an instrument for producing legitimacy and protecting the succession.