Ešarra-ḫammat was a queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the primary consort of Esarhaddon. Ešarra-ḫammat had been married to Esarhaddon for over a decade by the time he became king, having married him c. 695 BC. Few sources from Ešarra-ḫammat's lifetime that mention her are known and she is thus chiefly known from sources dating to after her death in February 672 BC, an event which deeply affected Esarhaddon. Esarhaddon had a great mausoleum constructed for her, unusual for burials of Assyrian queens, and had her death recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles. Ešarra-ḫammat might have been the mother of Esarhaddon's most prominent children, i.e. the daughter Šērūʾa-ēṭirat and the sons Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin.

The queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the consort of the Neo-Assyrian king. Though the queens derived their power and influence through their association with their husband, they were not pawns without political power. The queens oversaw their own, often considerable, finances and owned vast estates throughout the empire. To oversee their assets, the queens employed a large administrative staff headed by a set of female administrators called šakintu. Among the duties of the queens were religious responsibilities and overseeing parts of the royal palaces; their role as "rulers of the domestic realm" is reflected in their title as "Women of the Palace". The power and influence of the queens was increased further under the Sargonid dynasty (722–609 BC), when they more frequently appear in artwork and large military units directly subservient to the queen were created.