Hellenistic historiography

thumb|Semiramis, a legendary figure based on the life of Shammuramat, depicted as an armed Amazons|Amazon in an eighteenth-century Italian illustration Semiramis (; Šammīrām, Šamiram, , Samīrāmīs) was the legendary Lydian-Babylonian wife of Onnes and of Ninus, who succeeded the latter on the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who drew primarily from the works of Ctesias of Cnidus, describe her and her relationships to Onnes and King Ninus.

thumb|Portrait from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum (1553) by [[Guillaume Rouillé]] Ninus (), according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was the founder of Nineveh (also called Νίνου πόλις "city of Ninus" in Greek), ancient capital of Assyria. What figure or figures he may have been based on is uncertain; an identification with Shamshi-Adad I, Shamshi-Adad V, and/or a conflation of the two has been suggested.

thumb|right|300px|Eugène Delacroix. [[The Death of Sardanapalus. Oil on canvas. 12 ft 1 in x 16 ft 3 in. Louvre.]] thumbnail|Lantern slide given the title "Sardanapalus" by [[William Henry Goodyear. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection]] According to the Greek writer Ctesias, Sardanapalus ( ; ), sometimes spelled Sardanapallus (), was the last king of Assyria, although in fact Aššur-uballiṭ II (612–605 BC) holds that distinction.

4th-century work by St. Jerome

Babylonian god Bel Marduk - God of war