Shiru Maliktha

Trace & Myth

Edited by: E.S. Lassu

 

Translated by: Aziz  Emmanuel Zebari

 

The rock sculpture lies in the south east of Mt. Sadk ( Elkush Mountain) at the entrance of the wadi known as Gali Bindwaye (Gorge of Bindwaye). It is about 6km away fromAlqush to the south. Flowing in the wadi near this rock sculputure is the rivulet of Bindwaye that waters the orchards lying to the south of Mt. Sadk, whereupon it heads westward and flows into the Tigris.

The relief is about 7m above the wadi bed within a rectangular niche in front of which is a big bench-like arena.

Inside the niche there is a big picture in relief measuring 124cm long representing a standing man turning left in the manner of walking with his left foot forward and the right foot back. He wears a cloth that hangs to the ankles ending with a hem with tassels. In his left hand he holds a long stick believed to be a staff while lifting his joined left hand high near his mouth pointing with his right finger to the symbols of the gods carved in front of him which cannot be idenfitied due to damage done to the relief. The man has a long beard hanging down over his chest wile wearing a tarboosh. It is believed that the Shero Malektha relief represents King Sennacherib ( 705-681 BC) who has handed down to us such figures in Ma'althaya and Khannes in Bavian; for he has left his figure in the middle of another irrigation project in which he caused water to flow to irrigate the lands surrounding his capital Nineveh. 

According to the legend and the local tradition, Shero Malektha, i.e. (Queen Shero) is related to the Assyrian Queen Shammuramat (810- 805BC) the regent queen for her underaged son Adad-nirari 111. I think that, through the course fo time, the name Shammuramat was shortened to Shammero and then to (Shero) to which was added later (Malektha) which means queen in Aramaic. It is obvious that the name Shammiram is the Aramiac word for the Assyrian name Shammuramat, and the Greek Semiramis.

The legend form Elkush has it that Shero Malektha was a benevolent queen who thought of carrying out projects for the general welfare of her people. She was worried about the thurst Alqush suffered from during summer and thus proposed to divert the river of Bindwaye to Elkush. 

The queen had a short-sighted minister who had no craft other than intrigues and treachery. When the queen commissioned him to dig the canal he went far away southward to an unconvient place. The queen let him know that the site he had chosen was not suitable to form a embankment for the canal to supply Alqush with water as it was lower than the town’s level. The queen was right. But the minister insisted for fear of uncovering his ignorance. And thus there was a bet between the queen and her minister on who would be the first to succeed in carrying water to the town.  

The queen started digging at the gorge’s entry whereby her labourers had to work hard breaking the rocks and dig hard soil. The minister, however, sticked to his view and started to dig in the plain area only to discover, a few days later, that it was not really possible in this way to carry water to Elkush. Scared of disgrace, he ordered during a dark night for long measures of white linen to be broght and spread at night on the ground from where he had started digging near the bank of Bindwaye River until Elkush. Before dawn, he went to the queen’s camp and spoke with her in an nanner that showed as if he had succeeded in carrying water to the town. At the light of daybreak the queen saw a white line far in the south which linked Elkush with the river and thought she had lost the bet. It looks like the queen was of a sensitive temper and was thus shocked to death. The legend has it that her gallbladder burst out of anxiety and she fell dead.Elkush was thus deprived of such a vital project until today. 

I have no idea as to the amount of truth in this legend, but apparently some Assyrian kings used to divert rivers to supply important cities with water. Cuneiform tablets tell us that Sennacherib brought fresh water to Nineveh from a mountain pass in a stone-built canal. At the dike of the canal were carved huge figures of the gods where some of the kings exploits were recorded. And hence the legend may have an origin in the Assyrian history.