A gold bowl with an inscription of Bānītu, queen of Shalmaneser V, was discovered with other inscribed objects in the sarcophagus of an Assyrian queen that was found in the main chamber of a tomb hidden under the pavement of Room 49 of the North-West Palace at Kalḫu; for further information and bibliography, see the general introduction to Tiglath-pileser text nos. 2003–2005. The bodies of two ladies were found in the sarcophagus, but with objects bearing the names of three queens: Yabâ, Bānītu, and Atalia (queen of Sargon II). The tomb, however, must have originally belonged to Yabâ, queen of Tiglath-pileser III, as a funerary tablet of hers found in the antechamber of the tomb suggests (see Tiglath-pileser text no. 2003). If the bodies are those of Yabâ and Atalia, as proposed by Damerji and Kamil, the objects belonging to Bānītu may have been buried with Atalia as family heirlooms. Alternatively, as S. Dalley (New Light on Nimrud pp. 171–175; and JSOT 28 [2004] pp. 387–401) has suggested, one could consider that Banītu (an alternative interpretation of the name Bānītu) is an Akkadian translation of West-Semitic Yabâ (meaning "beautiful") and that Yabâ and Banītu (that is, Bānītu) are one and the same person. This would imply that Yabâ maintained her pre-eminent rank in the harem after Tiglath-pileser III died and was succeeded by Shalmaneser V.
This inscription of Bānītu, which basically parallels the one inscribed on a cosmetic container (Shalmaneser V text no. 2002), contains only her name and the title "queen of Shalmaneser (V)." Since the original was not available for study, the edition is based on the published copies and editions of Kamil and al-Rawi.
Access Shalmaneser V 2001 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap1/Q003635/]
Source:
An electrum cosmetic container with an inscription of Bānītu, queen of Shalmaneser V, was discovered with other inscribed objects, including a gold bowl of hers, in a sarcophagus hidden in a tomb beneath the pavement of Room 49 of the North-West Palace at Kalḫu. The text is a near duplicate of Shalmaneser V text no. 2001, which is inscribed on a gold bowl. Because the original was not available for study, the edition is based on the published copies and editions of Kamil and al-Rawi.
Access Shalmaneser V 2002 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap1/Q003636/]
Source:
Hayim Tadmor & Shigeo Yamada
Hayim Tadmor & Shigeo Yamada, 'Royal Women', RINAP 1: Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser V, The RINAP 1 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap1/shalmaneservtextintroductions/royalwomen/]