Born: Unknown (600s BCE), Turkey (assumed)
Died: Unknown (600s BCE)
Country most active: Turkey
Also known as: Oracle of Nuski
This biography was originally published in the World History Encyclopedia and was written by Joshua J. Mark. It is shared in line with the Encyclopedia’s policies under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Oracle of Nuska was an unnamed slave girl who became embroiled in a plot to overthrow Esarhaddon circa 671 BCE. Unlike any official oracle, the girl was not attached to a sacred site or temple but was the property of a man named Bel-ahu-usur. At some point around 671 BCE, she began acting as though possessed by divine spirits and gave the prophecy that Esarhaddon would soon fall and an official named Sasi would become king of the Assyrian Empire. Sasi took her prophecy seriously and brought her into his home as he began to plot a coup, but Esarhaddon, who had a lifelong interest in astrology and prophecy, also took the oracle seriously and took measures to protect himself, including trying to capture the girl at the center of the plot.
In 670 BCE, he succeeded, and while her fate is unknown, she was probably executed along with Sasi and the other conspirators. Her significance rests on her unorthodox position as a slave girl who was not attached to a site or temple, suggesting the kind of powerful and charismatic personality that made people listen to her and elevated her from slave to honored guest in Sasi’s home and instigator of a plot to topple a powerful Assyrian king.