Nitocris of Babylon

Nitocris is in the histories of Herodotus (I, 184-188 ) mentioned queen of Babylon.

Herodotus (I, 184) knows Nitokris as one of the two queens, who ruled all of Asia - the other was five generations before her Semiramis. Nitocris is after the conquest of Ninos ( Nineveh ) by the Medes have changed the course of the River Euphrates to Babylon give greater protection. This shall include the installation of an artificial lake heard above the town. The doing away earth was heaped up to a dam (I, 185). She will also be credited over the Euphrates River, the construction of a bridge made ​​of bricks and wooden beams. The wooden beams could be removed at night to protect from thieves (I, 186). Finally, they should have built over the busiest gate of the city a tomb for himself, which had only opened Darius in the mistaken expectation of great riches (I, 187). As Nitokris ' son called Herodotus the Labynetus, the last king of Babylon, was drawn against the Kyros to war (I, 188). Whether this Labynetus, is identical to that referred to in I, 74 Babylonians, the BC mediated a peace agreement between Lydia and the Medes, together with the Syennesis of Cilicia to 585, or if it is that to the - presumably because of the chronological difficulties ad hoc introduced by Herodotus - is the same father of Labynetus is controversial.

Likewise, the possible controversial historical core is behind the tradition to Nitokris. Possible models are about Naqia, the wife of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon's mother, and Adad - guppi, the mother of Nabonidus discussed. The name Nitocris is not of Babylonian origin, he draws attention to Egypt. So Herodotus also mentions an eponymous Egyptian queen (II, 100), moreover, is Nebetneferumut, a daughter Psamettichs I, also known as Nitocris.