A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Nitocris
NITOCRIS,
Mentioned by Herodotus, is supposed by some to have been the wife or at least the contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Assyria. She contributed much to the improvement of Babylon, and built a bridge to connect the two parts of the city divided by the Euphrates, and also extensive embankments along the river. She gave orders there should be an inscription on her tomb, signifying that her successors would find great treasures within, if they were in need of money; but that their labour would be ill repaid if they opened it without necessity. Cyrus opened it from curiosity, and found within it only these words:—"If thy avarice had not been insatiable, thou never wouldst have violated the monuments of the dead!"
Other historians suppose her to have been the wife of Evil-Merodach, son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, who also governed during the lunacy of his father. She was a woman of extraordinary abilities, and did all that she could by human prudence to sustain a tottering empire. She lived in the sixth century before Christ.