Amytis
BornEcbatana
Diedc. 565 BCE
Babylon
SpouseNebuchadnezzar II (?)
IssueKaššaya (?)
Innin-etirat (?)
Ba'u-asitu (?)
Marduk-nadin-ahi (?)
Eanna-šarra-usur (?)
Amel-Marduk (?)
Marduk-šum-usur (?)
Mušezib-Marduk (?)
Nitocris (?)
Median*ᴴumati
HouseMedian
FatherCyaxares
ReligionAncient Iranian religion
Ancient Mesopotamian religion

Amytis of Babylon (c. 630-565 BCE; Median: *ᴴumati; Ancient Greek: Ancient Greek: Αμυτις, romanized: Amutis; Latin: Amytis)[1][2] was a Queen of Ancient Babylon. She was the daughter of the Median king Cyaxares, and the wife of Nebuchadnezzar II.

Name

The female name Amytis is the Latinised form of the Greek name Amutis (Αμυτις), which perhaps may reflect (with vowel metathesis) an original Median name *ᴴumati, meaning "having good thought," and which is an equivalent of the Avestan term humaⁱti (𐬵𐬎𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌).[1][2]

Life

Amytis was the daughter of Cyaxares, and the sister of Astyages.[3] Amytis had a niece, also named Amytis, from her brother Astyages.[1]

Amytis married Nebuchadnezzar to formalize the alliance between the Babylonian and Median dynasties.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Tradition relates that Amytis' yearning for the forested mountains of Media led to the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as Nebuchadnezzar attempted to please her by planting the trees and plants of her homeland.[4] Historical evidence, however, does not lend support to this tradition.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schmitt 1989.
  2. 1 2 Schmitt, Rüdiger (2011). Iranisches Personennamenbuch [Book of Iranian Personal Names] (in German). Vol. 5.5a. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-3-700-17142-3.
  3. ↑ "Cyaxares". Livius. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  4. ↑ Foster, Karen Polinger (1998). "Gardens of Eden: Flora and Fauna in the Ancient Near East" (PDF). Transformations of Middle Eastern Natural Environments: Legacies and Lessons. New Haven: Yale University. pp. 320–329. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-28. Retrieved 2007-08-11.

Bibliography

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