Nitocris of Babylon


Nitocris of Babylon is an otherwise unknown queen of Babylon described by Herodotus in his Histories. According to Herodotus she was the wife of Nabonidus against whose son Cyrus the Great launched an expedition. Dougherty and Beaulieu identify the son as Belshazzar.
She is credited by Herodotus with various building projects in Babylon. She is also said to have tricked Darius I by placing her tomb above a gate so that no Persian could pass below and enter through. According to the account, Darius was lured in by a mysterious inscription that served as a trap for greedy kings.
In the past, various hypotheses have been proposed to link her with one or several known persons: