This text is written on a stele found in one of the rows of steles at Aššur. The inscription was deliberately mutilated in antiquity and, therefore, is difficult to read. Despite this, the text appears to record the name of a woman attached to Sennacherib. One of the king's wives — Tašmētu-šarrat, Naqīʾa (Zakūtu), or another woman whose name is not otherwise attested (see the on-page note to line 2) — is generally thought to have been the owner of this stele; the difficult-to-read traces in line 2 do not seem to fit the names of Tašmētu-šarrat, Naqīʾa, or Zakūtu. Recently, E. Frahm and E. Weissert have proposed that the object belonged to the mother of Sennacherib and they suggest that we should read the name as Raʾīmâ (meaning "beloved"), a suggestion that is tentatively followed here. For further information on the identity of the woman whose name is written on this stele and the circumstances surrounding its defacement, see Frahm, Sanherib pp. 184–185 I.2; Frahm, Sennacherib at the Gates of Jerusalem pp. 179–180; Liverani in Lippolis, Sennacherib Wall Reliefs p. 16 and n. 109; Radner, Studies Fales p. 694; and Reade, Studies Larsen p. 463.
Access Sennacherib 2001 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q004088/]
Source:
Two ring-handled, "Canaanite-style" alabaster amphoras found at Aššur have a short label written on them stating that they belonged to Tašmētu-šarrat, a wife of Sennacherib.
Access Sennacherib 2002 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q004089/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P466960,P466961]:
Both amphoras (Onasch's type 182, "Canaanite-style" ring-handled amphora) are inscribed with the same text. Note, however, that ex. 1 divides the text into two lines, whereas the inscription is written in a single line on ex. 2. The line count of the edition follows ex. 2. Because both inscriptions are fully preserved and there are no variants, no score is provided on the CD-ROM. An image of a scorpion is incised on both amphoras, on the shoulder near the inscription. It has long been thought that the scorpion represented the Assyrian queen, much like the image of the lion represents the Assyrian king. For a recent study of the image of the scorpion, with references to previous literature, see Niederreiter, Iraq 70 (2008) pp. 59–62; and Radner, Studies Fales pp. 690–693.
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny, 'Royal Women', RINAP 3: Sennacherib, The RINAP 3 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap3/rinap32textintroductions/royalwomen/]