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Semiramis
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{{Short description|Legendary queen of Assyria}} {{Other uses}} [[File:Semiramis-Regina.png|thumb|Semiramis, a legendary figure based on the life of Shammuramat, depicted as an armed [[Amazons|Amazon]] in an eighteenth-century Italian illustration]] '''Semiramis''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|m|ɪr|ə|m|ɪ|s|,_|s|ɪ|-|,_|s|ɛ|-}};<ref>{{citation|last=Wells|first=John C.|year= 2008|title= Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|edition= 3rd|publisher= Longman|isbn= 9781405881180}}</ref>{{Page number needed|date=January 2025}} {{langx |syr|ܫܲܡܝܼܪܵܡ}} ''Šammīrām'', {{langx |hy|Շամիրամ}} ''Šamiram'', {{langx|el|Σεμίραμις}}, {{langx|ar|سميراميس }} ''Samīrāmīs'') was the legendary<ref name="Fox2008">{{cite book | author = Robin Lane Fox | date = 4 September 2008 | title = Travelling Heroes: Greeks and their myths in the epic age of Homer | publisher = Penguin UK | pages = | isbn = 978-0-14-188986-3 | oclc = 1004570108 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KQAlsZKSCcwC&pg=PT230|quote= Semiramis was an invention of the Greek legend only}}</ref><ref name="Bernbeck">{{cite book|last= Kühne|first= Hartmut|title= Fundstellen: gesammelte Schriften zur Ärchäologie und Geschichte Altvorderasiens; ad honorem Hartmut Kühne|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lq-6DcQwfu0C&pg=PA352|year= 2008|publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn= 978-3-447-05770-7 |page= 352|chapter= Sexgender, Power And Sammuramat: A View From The Syrian Steppe}}</ref> [[Lydians|Lydian]]-[[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Historical Review|last=Creighton M.A. L.L.D.|first=Rev. Mandell|publisher= Longmans, Green, And Co.|year= 1888|volume= 3|location= London & New York|pages= 112}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title= The Lifting of the Veil: Acts 15:20-21|last=Yehoshua|first=Avram|publisher=Trafford Publishing|date=June 7, 2011|isbn=978-1426972034 |pages= 58}}</ref> wife of [[Onnes (general)|Onnes]] and of [[Ninus]], who succeeded the latter on the throne of [[Assyria]],{{sfn|Bernbeck|2008|p=353}} according to [[Movses Khorenatsi]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Moses (of Khoren) | date = 2006 | title = History of the Armenians | publisher = Caravan Books | pages = | isbn = 978-0-88206-111-5 | oclc = 1011412893 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w4ItAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> Legends narrated by [[Diodorus Siculus]], who drew primarily from the works of [[Ctesias| Ctesias of Cnidus]],<ref name="Diodorus Siculus">Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History, Book II, Chapters 1-22</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1= Muntz |first1= Charles Edward |title= Diodorus Siculus and the world of the late Roman republic |date= 2017 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= New York, NY |isbn= 9780190498726 |page= 23}}</ref> describe her and her relationships to Onnes and King Ninus. [[Armenians]] and the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] of [[Iraq]], northeast [[Syria]], southeast [[Turkey]], and northwest [[Iran]] still use ''Shamiram'' and its derivative ''Samira'' as a given name for girls.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Assyrian Names and Meanings for Boys and Girls |url= http://www.atour.com/education/assyriannames.html|access-date=2020-08-24|website=www.atour.com}}</ref> The real and historical '''[[Shammuramat]]''', the original [[Akkadian language |Akkadian]] form of the name, was the Assyrian wife of [[Shamshi-Adad V]] (ruled 824 BC–811 BC). She ruled the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] as its regent for five years, before her son [[Adad-nirari III]] came of age and took the reins of power.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia= Britannica Online Encyclopedia |title= Sammu-ramat (queen of Assyria) |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/520556/Sammu-ramat | access-date= 2013-01-04}}</ref> She ruled at a time of political uncertainty, which may partly explain why Assyrians may have accepted the rule of a woman when it was not allowed by their cultural tradition. She conquered much of the Middle East and the [[Levant]] and stabilized and strengthened the empire after a destructive civil war. It has been speculated that being a woman who ruled successfully may have made the Assyrians regard her with particular reverence and that her achievements may have been retold over the generations until she was gradually turned into a legendary figure.<ref name="AE2014"/> The name of Semiramis came to be applied to various [[monument]]s in Western Asia and Anatolia whose origins had been forgotten or unknown,<ref name="See Strabo xvi. I. 2">See [[Strabo]] xvi. I. 2</ref> even the [[Behistun Inscription]] of [[Darius I of Persia| Darius]].<ref name="Diodorus Siculus ii. 3">Diodorus Siculus ii. 3</ref><ref name="Reade2000"/> [[Herodotus]] ascribes to her the artificial banks that confined the [[Euphrates]].<ref name="i. 184">i. 184</ref> He knew her name because it was inscribed on a gate of Babylon.<ref name="iii. 155">iii. 155</ref> Various places in [[Mesopotamia]], [[Medes| Media]], [[Persia]], the [[Levant]], [[Anatolia]], the Arabian Peninsula, and the [[Caucasus]] received names recalling Semiramis.
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