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Sagburu of Ereš: Oracle of Nuska (c. 671 BC?)


Who was Sagburu of Ereš? Some sources state that the Oracle of Nuska was an unnamed slave girl who became embroiled in a plot to overthrow Esarhaddon c. 671 BC. Official Assyrian records contain no information on the conspiracies.

King Esarhaddon (r. 681 to 669 BC) was the son of Assyrian Queen Naqiya-Zakutu and  King Sennacherib.

His father, King Sennacherib, is most notably remembered for his campaigns against Babylon and Judah.

Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons c. 681 BC and the murder is regularly attributed to his destroying the city of Babylon, but it is equally probable they killed him simply to gain the throne and disenfranchise their younger brother, Esarhaddon.

Esarhaddon was then recalled from exile, probably by Queen Zakutu. He defeated his brothers in a six-week civil war, and took the throne; afterwards, he had his brothers’ families and associates executed.

The wife of Esarhaddon bore him twin sons, Ashurbanipal and Šamaš-šuma-ukin, whom he had designated respectively crown princes of Assyria and of Babylonia (c. 672 BC). Šērūʾa-ēṭirat, their older sister, is the only one of Esarhaddon's daughters to be known by name.

Other sources state that Sagburu, Oracle of Nuska, aided King Enmerkar of Uruk (c. 3100BC), to defeat his arch-nemesis, the king of Aratta, in Enmerkar and Enšukešdana.

Enmerkar was an ancient Sumerian ruler to whom the construction of the city of Uruk and a 420-year reign was attributed.

He is remembered as the founder and first king of Uruk. Uruk was ultimately annexed by the Akkadian Empire.

Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334–2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire. He was the father of Enheduanna.

The Levant was home to some of the oldest civilizations, and it has been ruled by nearly all the dominant powers of biblical history, including the Akkadians, the Amorites, the Mitanni, the Hittites, the Arameans, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Seleucids, the Parthians, and the Romans. Its history intersects with biblical history beginning with Abraham and continuing all the way to the apostle Paul.

Ur of the Chaldeans, is mentioned in the Bible as the birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites and the Ishmaelites.

King Amar-Sin may have been king at the time of Abraham. He is otherwise known to have campaigned against Elamite rulers such as Arwilukpi of Marhashi, and the Ur Empire under his reign extended as far as the northern provinces of Lullubi and Hamazi, with their own governors. He also ruled over Ashur through the Akkadian governor Zariqum, as confirmed by his monumental inscription.

Like this post? Stop by and read “Naqiya-Zakutu: Queen of Assyria, Wife of Sennacherib, Mother of Esarhaddon.” Queen Naqiya-Zakutu was a wife of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (r. 705–681 BC) and the mother of his son and successor Esarhaddon (r. 681–669).


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