Amytis of Media

Amuhia or Amytis of Media (c. 630–565 BC) was the daughter or granddaughter of the Median king Cyaxares, and the wife of Nebuchadnezzar II.

Life

Amytis was either born to Cyaxares and his wife, or to Cyaxares's son, Astyages, and daughter-in-law, Aryenis. In either case it is believed she was conceived out of wedlock.

Amytis married Nebuchadnezzar to formalize the alliance between the Babylonian and Median dynasties.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Amytis' homesickness for the forested mountains of the Median Empire led to the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as Nebuchadnezzar attempted to please her by planting the trees and plants of her homeland. Recent evidence suggests that the garden was more likely built by an Assyrian King Sennacherib in Nineveh.

Etymology

Amytis, Median and Persian female name, attested only in the Greek form A´mytis, which perhaps may reflect (with vowel metathesis) an old Persian *Umati—equivalent to Avestan humaiti— “having good thought ”