Tabūʿa (Old Arabic: Tabūʿa; Akkadian: 𒋫𒁍𒀀, romanized: Tabua) was a queen regnant of the Nomadic Arab tribes of Qedar. She ruled in the 7th century BC, circa 675 BC.[1] She succeeded queen Te'el-hunu.[1]
Tabua was the fifth of six Arab queens to be attested (assarratu) in Assyrian documents between Tiglath-pileser III and Assurbanipal, who were Zabibe, Samsi, Yatie, Te'el-hunu, Tabua and Adia, the first five of them rulers.[2] Tabua's early life is not well-known, except for the fact that she was raised by Sennacherib as his daughter to be the new queen of the Arabs.[2][3] Some have theorized that Tabua was Te'el-hunu's and Sennacherib's child, who was born during the captivity of the former; however this theory remains highly speculative.[2]
During the rule of Esarhaddon, Tabua was sent back to Dumat al-Jandal to rule as a queen and partner of the new vassal king of Qedar, Hazael.[3] The idols of the Qedarites, which included al-Lat, were also returned back to them. She had a short reign, which may either mean she had died, retired, or the Qedarites had overthrown her and replaced her with another queen.
