SAMMU-RAMAT

flourished 9th century BC Greek Semiramis Assyrian queen who became a legendary heroine. Sammu-ramat was the mother of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III (reigned 810783 BC). Her stela (memorial stone shaft) has been found at Ashur, while an inscription at Calah (Nimrud) shows her to have been dominant there after the death of her husband, Shamshi-Adad V (823811 BC). Sammu-ramat was mentioned by Herodotus, and the later historian Diodorus Siculus elaborated a whole legend about her. According to him, she was born of a goddess, and, after being married to an Assyrian officer, she captivated the king Ninus by her beauty and valour and became his wife. Soon afterward, when Ninus died, Sammu-ramat assumed power and reigned for many years. In that time she built Babylon and turned to the conquest of distant lands.