Serua-eterat

Serua-eterat or Serua-etirat (Akkadian: Šērū’a-ēṭirat[1] or Šeru’a-eṭirat,[2] meaning "Šerua is the one who saves"[3]), called Saritrah in later Aramaic texts, was an ancient Assyrian princess of the Sargonid dynasty, the eldest daughter of King Esarhaddon and the older sister of his son and successor Ashurbanipal. She is the only one of Esarhaddon's daughters to be known by name and inscriptions listing the royal children suggest that she outranked several of her brothers, such as her younger brother Ashur-mukin-paleya, but below the crown princes Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin. Her importance could be explained by her possibly being the oldest of all Esarhaddon's children.

Serua-eterat's c. 670 BC letter to her younger brother Ashurbanipal's wife Libbali-sharrat, in which she reprimands her for not doing her homework.

Although she is mentioned in several royal inscriptions, she is most known for her letter dated c. 670 BC to Ashurbanipal's wife (her sister-in-law) Libbali-sharrat in which she reminds the future queen that Serua-eterat outranks her as she is a king's daughter and also reprimands her for not doing her homework. Serua-eterat lived into Ashurbanipal's reign and her eventual fate is unknown. A later Aramaic story has her play a central role in attempting to broker peace between Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin on the eve of their civil war c. 652 BC and disappearing after Ashurbanipal kills his brother.

Biography

Esarhaddon, who reigned as king of Assyria from 681–669 BC, had several daughters, but Serua-eterat is the only one known by name. Her name frequently appears in contemporary inscriptions.[1] At least one other daughter, though unnamed, is known from lists of the royal children and Serua-eterat is explicitly designated as the "eldest daughter", meaning there would have been other princesses.[4] Because lists of the royal children are inconsistent in order, it is difficult to determine the age of Serua-eterat relative to her male siblings.[5] She is usually listed after the crown princes Ashurbanipal (who was set to inherit Assyria) and Shamash-shum-ukin (who was set to inherit Babylon) but ahead of the younger brothers Ashur-mukin-paleya and Ashur-etel-shame-erseti-muballissu. As such, she seems to have ranked third among the royal children, despite there being more than two sons.[6] She was older than Ashurbanipal and one theory in regards to her high status is that she might have been the oldest of Esarhaddon's children.[5]

Serua-eterat's name is listed among the names of her brothers in a document concerning the foods and potential gifts of the New Year's celebration and she is also named in a grant by Ashurbanipal. She also appears in a medical report on the royal family from 669 BC.[7] She is known to have performed sacrifices to the god Nabu together with the male children and to have been present at events and ceremonial banquets alongside her male siblings.[4] She also appears in a text from the reign of Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal wherein Nabu-nadin-shumi, the chief exorcist in Babylonia, writes to the princess to say that he is praying for her father and for her.[7]

She might have been the daughter of Esarhaddon who was intended to marry Bartatua, a Scythian king, but this marriage probably never took place[7] and she was still living in the royal palace at Nineveh c. 670 BC, near the end of Esarhaddon's reign. It was around this time that she wrote to her sister-in-law Libbali-sharrat, wife of her brother, the crown prince Ashurbanipal. In her letter, she respectfully reprimands Libbali-sharrat for not studying and also reminds her that though Libbali-sharrat is to become the future queen, Serua-eterat still outranks her as she is the king's daughter (a title that would have been rendered as marat šarri, "daughter of the king", in Akkadian) whilst Libbali-šarrat is only the king's daughter-in-law.[1][5][6] Translated into English, Serua-eterat's letter reads:[8]

Word of the king's daughter to Libbali-šarrat.
Why don't you write your tablet and do your homework? For if you don't, they will say: "Is this the sister of Šeru’a-eṭirat, the eldest daughter of the Succession Palace of Aššur-etel-ilani-mukinni[n 1], the great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria?"
Yet you are only a daughter-in-law — the lady of the house of Ashurbanipal, the great crown prince designate of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria.[8]

The opening of the letter ("word of the king's daughter") is striking. The opening "this is the word of the king" was usually only used by the king himself. The letter suggests that shame would be brought on the royal house if Libbali-sharrat was unable to read and write.[2] Some scholars have interpreted the letter as a sign that there was sometimes social tension between the denizens of the ancient Assyrian royal palace.[7]

The role Serua-eterat played in the court of her brother Ashurbanipal once Esarhaddon was dead and her eventual fate is unknown.[5] Her title after Esarhaddon's death was ahat šarri ("sister of the king").[10] A later Aramaic story based on the civil war between her brothers Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin (652–648 BC) gives Serua-eterat a central role in the negotiations before the civil war started around 652 BC.[5][7] In the story, Saritrah (Serua-eterat) attempts to broker peace between Sarbanabal (Ashurbanipal) and Sarmuge (Samash-shum-ukin).[7] When this fails and Sarbanabal kills Sarmuge, Saritrah disappears, possibly into exile.[11]

Notes
  1. "Aššur-etel-ilani-mukinni" was a more formal "court name" of Esarhaddon.[9]

References
  1. Teppo 2007, p. 394.
  2. Novotny & Singletary 2009, p. 168.
  3. Roth 1958, p. 403.
  4. Kertai 2013, p. 119.
  5. Novotny & Singletary 2009, pp. 172–173.
  6. Melville 2004, p. 42.
  7. Teppo 2007, p. 395.
  8. Barjamovic 2011, pp. 55–56.
  9. Halton & Svärd 2017, p. 150.
  10. Melville 2004, p. 38.
  11. Lipiński 2006, p. 183.

Cited bibliography
  • Barjamovic, Gojko (2011). "Pride, Pomp and Circumstance". Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires: A Global Perspective. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-20622-9.
  • Halton, Charles; Svärd, Saana (2017). Women's Writing of Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107052055.
  • Kertai, David (2013). "The Queens of the Neo-Assyrian Empire". Altorientalische Forschungen. 40 (1): 108–124. doi:10.1524/aof.2013.0006.
  • Lipiński, Edward (2006). On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age: Historical and Topographical Researches. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-9042917989.
  • Melville, Sarah C. (2004). "Neo-Assyrian Royal Women and Male Identity: Status as a Social Tool". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 124 (1): 37–57. doi:10.2307/4132152. JSTOR 4132152.
  • Novotny, Jamie; Singletary, Jennifer (2009). "Family Ties: Assurbanipal's Family Revisited". Studia Orientalia Electronica. 106: 167–177.
  • Roth, Martha T. (1958). The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume 4 (E). University of Chicago Press.
  • Teppo, Saana (2007). "Agency and the Neo-Assyrian Women of the Palace". Studia Orientalia Electronica. 101: 381–420.
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