Arda-Mulissu held the position of the heir apparent for several years until 684BC when Sennacherib suddenly replaced him with his younger brother Esarhaddon. As the name Ashur-ili-muballissu appears in the list of personal names, alongside fragmentary names that could possibly be reconstructed as Ashur-nadin-shumi (or Ashur-shumu-ushabshi) and Esarhaddon, it is also possible that the other personal names were names of further sons of Sennacherib. If Sargon was the son of Tiglath-Pileser and not a non-dynastic usurper, Sennacherib would have grown up in the royal palace at Nimrud and spent most of his youth there. [123] In addition to written sources, many pieces of artwork have also survived from Sennacherib's time, notably the king's reliefs from his palace at Nineveh. [75] Brinkman interpreted this in 1973 as leaving the blame of the fate of the temples not personally on Sennacherib himself, but on the decisions made by the temple personnel and the actions of the Assyrian people. [7] Marduk-apla-iddina rallied large portions of Babylonia's people to fight for him, both the urban Babylonians and the tribal Chaldeans, and he also enlisted troops from the neighboring civilization of Elam, in modern-day south-western Iran. Turning to the east, Sennacherib overwhelmed Philistine Ekron and suspended the bodies of its rebellious leaders on stakes throughout the city. Eckhart Frahm considers this idea unlikely on account of the impressive royal gardens in Babylon itself. Biblical archaeologist Isaac Kalimi and historian Seth Richardson described Sennacherib's 701BC attack against Jerusalem as a "world event" in 2014, noting that it drew together the fates of numerous otherwise disparate groups. Assur, the great god, has intrusted to me an unrivaled kingship, and has made powerful my weapons above (all) those who dwell in palaces. [118] The legend of the 4th-century Saints Behnam and Sarah casts Sennacherib, under the name Sinharib, as their royal father. They will ride the wave of my presence and as my war Eagles they will begin to fly carried by the waves of my presence." Fearing for his life, Marduk-apla-iddina had already fled the battlefield. Nergal-ushezib was frightened by this development and called on the Elamites for aid. [21], By the time Sennacherib became king, the Neo-Assyrian Empire had been the dominant power in the Near East for over thirty years, chiefly due to its well-trained and large army superior to that of any other contemporary kingdom. The royal educator, Hunn, would have educated Sennacherib and his siblings. Sennacherib's generals led other small campaigns without the king present, including a 698BC expedition against Kirua, an Assyrian governor revolting in Cilicia, and a 695BC campaign against the city of Tegarama. Though Sennacherib reclaimed the south in 700BC, Marduk-apla-iddina continued to trouble him, probably instigating Assyrian vassals in the Levant to rebel, leading to the Levantine War of 701 BC, and himself warring against Bel-ibni, Sennacherib's vassal king in Babylonia. Son and successor of Sargon, he led expeditions to subdue Phoenicia and Palestine in 701 bc, and defeated the Elamite-Chaldean alliance in 691 bc. Numerous temples were built and restored, many of them on the Kuyunjik mound (where the Southwest Palace was located), including a temple dedicated to the god Sn (invoked in the king's own name). I counted out the wealth of that citysilver, gold, precious stones, property and goodsinto the hands of my people; and they took it as their own. [75], Although Sennacherib destroyed the city, he appears to have still been somewhat fearful of Babylon's ancient gods. His most famous work in the city is the Southwest Palace, which Sennacherib named his "Palace without Rival". (Adaside dynasty1700722 BCE)Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II, Second Intermediate PeriodSixteenthDynasty Heads lie in a heap at their feet. Sennacherib is presented as akin to a ruthless predator, attacking Judah as a "wolf on the fold" in the famous 1815 poem The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron:[112]. He corresponded with and sent gifts to western rulers like Hezekiah, probably hoping to assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance. AbydosDynasty After distributing such financial resources, Sennacherib sent letters to his father to inform him of his decisions. Though many of these early inscriptions talk about the palace as if it were already completed, this was the standard way of writing about building projects in ancient Assyria. Though the blockade of Jerusalem was not a proper siege, it is clear from all available sources that a massive Assyrian army was encamped in the city's vicinity, probably on its northern side. Other events of his reign include his destruction of the city of Babylon in 689 BC and his renovation and expansion of the last great Assyrian capital, Nineveh . Sargon is never mentioned in Sennacherib's inscriptions. Panels 14-16 He thought he could win the battle over them. Because the Assyrians venerated the long history and culture of Babylon, it was preserved as a full kingdom, either ruled by an appointed client king, or by the Assyrian king in a personal union. In his stead, Sennacherib proclaimed a noble by the name Ethbaal as the new king of Sidon and his vassal and oversaw the submission of many of the surrounding cities to his rule. Because of the infighting of these three major groups, Babylonia often represented an appealing target for Assyrian campaigns. For the first six years of his reign, they were written on clay cylinders, but he later began using clay prisms, probably because they provided a greater surface area. The oldest traces of human settlement at its location are from the 7th millenniumBC, and from the 4thmillennium BC and onward it formed an important administrative center in the north. Faced with a massive Assyrian army nearby, many of the Levantine rulers, including Budu-ilu of Ammon, Kamusu-nadbi of Moab, Mitinti of Ashdod and Malik-rammu of Edom, quickly submitted to Sennacherib to avoid retribution. An inscription on a stone lion in the quarter associated with Sennacherib's queen, Tashmetu-sharrat, contains hopes that the king and queen would both live healthily and long within the new palace. Sennacherib had been groomed for ascension to. According to Elayi, Sennacherib was "certainly intelligent, skillful, with an ability of adaptation", but "his sense of piety was contradictory, as, on the one hand, he impiously destroyed the statues of gods and temples of Babylon while, on the other hand, he used to consult the gods before acting and prayed to them". Because Babylon, well within his own territory, had been the target of most of his military campaigns and had caused the death of his son, Sennacherib destroyed the city in 689BC. He was forced to pay a heavier tribute than previously, probably along with a heavy penalty and the tribute that he had failed to send to Nineveh from 705 to 701BC. As an Assyrian king of Babylon, Ashur-nadin-shumi's position was politically important and highly delicate and would have granted him valuable experience as the intended heir to the entire Neo-Assyrian Empire. The relief bears two cuneiform inscription. [72] In 1982, Assyriologist Louis D. Levine wrote that the battle was probably an Assyrian victory, though not a decisive one and that though the southerners had been defeated and fled, the Assyrian advance on Babylon itself was temporarily halted. [62] They then sailed across the Persian Gulf, a journey which Sennacherib's inscriptions indicate was difficult since repeated sacrifices were made to Ea, the god of the deep. First discovered and excavated from 1847 to 1851 by the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard, the discovery of reliefs depicting Sennacherib's siege of Lachish in the Southwest Palace was the first archaeological confirmation of an event described in the Bible. In addition to the older brothers who died before his birth, Sennacherib had a number of younger brothers, some of whom are mentioned as being alive as late as 670BC, then in the service of Sennacherib's son and successor Esarhaddon. [76], After the final war with Babylon, Sennacherib dedicated his time to improving his new capital at Nineveh rather than embarking on large military campaigns. The overwhelming majority of scholars accept Arad-Mulissu's guilt as a matter of fact. [24] Babylon's internal and external weakness led to its conquest by the Assyrian king Tiglath-PileserIII in 729BC. He is primarily remembered for his military campaigns in Babylon and Jerusalem. [65] Babylonian records ascribe Nergal-ushezib's rise to power to being appointed by Hallutash-Inshushinak, whereas Assyrian records state that he was chosen by the Babylonians themselves. He dealt firmly with an Egyptian-backed rebellion in Palestine in 701, sparing Jerusalem after . [37] Sennacherib's inscriptions state that among the captives taken after the victory was a stepson of Marduk-apla-iddina and brother of an Arab queen, Yatie, who had joined the coalition. By the time Sargon moved to Babylon, Sennacherib, who served as the crown prince and designated heir, had already left Nimrud, living in a residence at Nineveh. As the Assyrians were preparing to retake Ekron, Hezekiah's ally, Egypt, intervened in the conflict. They also served as intimidating tools for propaganda and psychological warfare. The rebel Shuzubu, hunted by Sennacherib in his 700 BC invasion of the south, had resurfaced under the name Mushezib-Marduk and, seemingly without foreign support, acceded to the throne of Babylon. Many of Sennacherib's reliefs are exhibited today at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, the British Museum, the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris. Although Sennacherib was successful in conquering Lachish and many other Judahite cities and towns, he did not conquer Jerusalem. [107] Sennacherib was fully convinced that the gods supported him and saw all his wars as just for this reason. [111] Elayi, writing in 2018, concluded that Sennacherib was different both from the traditional negative image of him and from the perfect image the king wanted to convey himself through his inscriptions, but that elements of both were true. [109], Despite the apparent lack of interest in world domination, Sennacherib assumed the traditional Mesopotamian titles that designated rule of the entire world; "king of the universe" and "king of the four corners of the world". They then besieged and took numerous cities. The War. The siege of Lachish, which ended in the city's destruction, was so lengthy that the defenders eventually began using arrowheads made of bone rather than metal, which had run out. [77] This caused consternation in Assyria itself, where Babylon and its gods were held in high esteem. His fifth campaign in 699BC involved a series of raids against the villages around the foot of Mount Judi, located to the northeast of Nineveh. They often served as propaganda meant to portray the king as better than all other rulers, both contemporary and ancient. Today, many such inscriptions are known, most of them housed in the collections of the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin and the British Museum in London, though many are located throughout the world in other institutions and private collections. Though the biblical narrative holds that divine intervention by an angel ended Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem by destroying the Assyrian army, an outright Assyrian defeat is unlikely as Hezekiah submitted to Sennacherib at the end of the campaign. [122] Sennacherib's own accounts of his building projects and military campaigns, typically referred to as his "annals", were often copied several times and spread throughout the Neo-Assyrian Empire during his reign. According to the narrative, no enemy, not even the powerful king of Assyria, would have been able to triumph over Hezekiah as the Judean king had God on his side. The Assyrians began by taking Ashkelon and defeating Sidqia. [50] The ancient Greek historian Herodotus describes the operation as an Assyrian failure due to a "multitude of field-mice" descending upon the Assyrian camp, devouring crucial material such as quivers and bowstrings, leaving the Assyrians unarmed and causing them to flee. Sennacherib's campaign in Judah was a military conflict in 701 BC between Kingdom of Judah and the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the conflict is part of the greater conflict of Sennacherib's campaigns. Historically, the most popular view has been that Sennacherib was the son of Sargon's wife Ataliya, although this is now considered unlikely. The Iraqi Department of Antiquities under the Assyriologist Tariq Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968. He made Nineveh his capital, building a new palace, extending and beautifying the city, and erecting inner and outer city walls that still stand. [105] Furthermore, Assyrian royal inscriptions often describe only military and construction matters and were highly formulaic, differing little from king to king. According to the biblical account, the Assyrian envoys to Hezekiah returned to Sennacherib to find him engaged in a struggle with the city of Libnah. Gypsum wall panel relief; carved in low relief; Sennacherib watches the capture of Lachish. In Mesopotamian mythology, the afterlife suffered by those who died in battle and were not buried was terrible, being doomed to suffer like beggars for eternity. Sennacherib immediately abandoned Sargon's great new capital city, Dur-Sharrukin, and moved the capital to Nineveh instead. Victorious, Sennacherib attempted yet another method to govern Babylonia and appointed his son Ashur-nadin-shumi to reign as Babylonian vassal king. Sennacherib reigned from 720 BC to about 683 BC. He is one of the most famous Assyrian kings owing to the part he plays in narratives in the biblical Old Testament (II Kings, II Chronicles, and Isaiah ). Other events of his reign include his destruction of the city of Babylon in 689BC and his renovation and expansion of the last great Assyrian capital, Nineveh. [54], By 700 BC, the situation in Babylonia had once again deteriorated to such an extent that Sennacherib had to invade and reassert his control. [75] Although Sennacherib had once anxiously considered the implications of Sargon's seizure of Babylon and the role that the city's offended gods may have played in his father's downfall, his attitude towards the city had shifted by 689 BC. [18], Sennacherib's name, Sn-a-erba, means "Sn (the moon-god) has replaced the brothers" in Akkadian. [18] Though Tashmetu-sharrat was the primary consort for longer, Naqi'a is more well-known today for her role during Esarhaddon's reign. The two fleets then combined into one and continued down to the Persian Gulf. Having two names could point to Naqi'a being born outside Assyria properpossibly in Babylonia or in the Levantbut there is no substantial evidence for any theory regarding her origin.[93]. Assyria and Babylonia also shared the same language (Akkadian). [72] It is likely Babylon would have been in a poor position once it fell to Sennacherib in 689BC, having been besieged for over fifteen months. [92] Esarhaddon's influential mother, Naqi'a, may have played a role in convincing Sennacherib to choose Esarhaddon as heir. [39] Because his previous policy of reigning as king of both Assyria and Babylonia had evidently failed, Sennacherib attempted another method, appointing a native Babylonian who had grown up at the Assyrian court, Bel-ibni, as his vassal king of the south. [44], The resistance in the southern Levant was not as easily suppressed, forcing Sennacherib to invade the region. List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources, Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, "Sin-ahhe-eriba [SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA] (RN)", "The Annihilation of Sennacherib's Army: A Case of Septicemic Plague", "New sources for Sennacherib's "first campaign", "The Great City: Nineveh in the Age of Sennacherib", "The Murderer of Sennacherib, yet Again: The Case against Esarhaddon", "Sennacherib's Southern Front: 704-689 B.C. [126], This variant of the titulature is used in an inscription from the Southwest Palace at Nineveh written after Sennacherib's 700 BC Babylonian campaign:[127], Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world); favorite of the great gods; the wise and crafty one; strong hero, first among all princes; the flame that consumes the insubmissive, who strikes the wicked with the thunderbolt. [125], The following titulature is used by Sennacherib in early accounts of his 703 BC Babylonian campaign:[126], Sennacherib, great king, mighty king, king of Assyria, king without rival, righteous shepherd, favorite of the great gods, prayerful shepherd, who fears the great gods, protector of righteousness, lover of justice, who lends support, who comes to the aid of the cripple and aims to do good deeds, perfect hero, mighty man, first among all kings, neckstock that bends the insubmissive, who strikes the enemy like a thunderbolt, Ashur, the great mountain, has bestowed upon me an unrivalled kingship and has made my weapons mightier than the weapons of all other rulers sitting on daises. Sin-a-eriba, "Sin has increased (or replaced) the (lost) brothers."King of Assyria and Babylonia, 705-681 b.c.. 1. Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE) was the second king of the Sargonid Dynasty of Assyria (founded by his father Sargon II, r. 722-705 BCE). Earlier in his account of the campaign, he specifically mentions the sanctuaries of the Babylonian deities had provided financial support to his enemies. [2] Nineveh had been the designated seat of the Assyrian crown prince since the reign of Tiglath-Pileser. The vast responsibilities entrusted to Sennacherib suggests a certain degree of trust between the king and the crown prince. [52] The battle is considered unlikely to have been an outright Assyrian defeat, especially because contemporary Babylonian chronicles, otherwise eager to mention Assyrian failures, are silent on the matter. Medieval Syriac tales characterize Sennacherib as an archetypical pagan king assassinated as part of a family feud, whose children convert to Christianity. Reade believes that the collapse of the Assyrian Empire within seventy years of Sennacherib's death can be partly attributed to later kings ignoring Sennacherib's policies and reforms. Brinkman believed that Sennacherib's change in attitude came from a will to avenge his son and tiring of a city well within the borders of his empire repeatedly rebelling against his rule. The Assyriologist Josette Elayi considers it more plausible Sennacherib's mother was another of Sargon's wives, Ra'm; a stele from Assur (once the capital of Assyria), discovered in 1913, specifically refers to her as the "mother of Sennacherib". Thus, Jerusalem was blockaded in some capacity, though the lack of massive military activities and appropriate equipment meant that it was probably not a full siege. [28] Sennacherib was about 35 years old when he ascended to the Assyrian throne in August of 705BC. When Sargon's wife Ataliya died, she was buried hastily and in the same coffin as another woman, the queen of the previous king Tiglath-Pileser. He never disobeyed his father, and his letters indicate he knew Sargon well and wanted to please him. Though such stone statues have been excavated at Nineveh, similar colossal statues mentioned in the inscriptions as being made of precious metals remain missing. Caught in a dreadful quandary, the priest [Sethos, who was also Pharaoh] entered the These are significant artifacts as they record Sennacherib's campaign into Judah in 701 BC. Tashmetu-sharrat is likely to have been the mother of at least some of them. The Assyrian king Sennacherib trained eagles for warfare. His name appears in the 'Old Testament' of the 'Bible.'. In his annals, Sennacherib claimed that he destroyed 46 fortified cities and towns of Judah and took 200,150 captives, although the number of captives is seen today widely as exaggeration. After the death of his eldest son and crown prince, Ashur-nadin-shumi, Sennacherib originally designated his second son Arda-Mulissu heir. [30] His reaction to his father's fate was to distance himself from Sargon. [117], Though Assyria had more than a hundred kings throughout its long history, Sennacherib (along with his son Esarhaddon and grandsons Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin) is one of the few kings who was remembered and figured in Aramaic and Syriac folklore long after the kingdom had fallen. [56] The Assyrians searched the northern marshes of Babylonia in an attempt to find and capture Shuzubu, but they failed. to 681 B.C. [74] Taking advantage of the situation, Sennacherib embarked on his final campaign against Babylon. The reign of Assyrian king Sennacherib (705-681 BCE) was chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon. [18] Inscriptions suggest that Sennacherib and Tashmetu-sharrat had a loving relationship, with the king referring to her as "my beloved wife" and publicly praising her beauty. He was assassinated by one of his own sons in a temple of Nineveh. Sennacherib's ultimate treatment of Babylon, destroying the city and its temples, was sacrilege and the king appears to have neglected the temples in Assyria until he carried out a renovation of the temple of Ashur in Assur late in his reign. I barricaded him with outposts, and exit from the gate of his city I made taboo for him." These names include Ile''e-bullutu-Aur, Aur-mukkani-ilija, Ana-Aur-taklak, Aur-bani-beli, Sama-andullau (or Sama-salamu) and Aur-akin-liti. Because Sennacherib might have considered a two-front war too risky, Marduk-apla-iddina was left unchallenged for several months. [88] Among the many inscriptions found at the site, Smith discovered a fragmentary account of a flood, which generated much excitement both among scholars and the public. [32], After the Babylonian war, Sennacherib's second campaign was in the Zagros Mountains. [84] Though some northern Babylonian territories became Assyrian provinces, the Assyrians made no effort to rebuild Babylon itself, and southern chronicles from the time refer to the era as the "kingless" period when there was no king in the land. According to Brinkman, Sennacherib might have lost the affection he once had for Babylon's gods because they had inspired their people to attack him. Bel-ibni now faced the open revolts of two tribal leaders: Shuzubu (who later became Babylonian king under the name Mushezib-Marduk) and Marduk-apla-iddina, now an elderly man. [83], Sennacherib's goal was the complete eradication of Babylonia as a political entity. Humban-menanu and his commander, Humban-undasha, led the Babylonian and Elamite forces. [49] There, most of their soldiers deserted and joined Esarhaddon, who then marched on Nineveh without opposition, becoming the new king of Assyria. Sennacherib , (died January 681 bc), King of Assyria (r. 705/704-681 bc), son and successor of Sargon II.Between 703 and 689 he undertook six campaigns against Elam (southwestern Iran), which was stirring up Chaldean and Aramaean tribes in Babylonia; Babylon was sacked during the last campaign. Nineveh was the capital of the powerful ancient Assyrian empire, located in modern-day northern Iraq. The murder of the king caused some resentment against him by his own supporters which delayed his potential coronation, and in the meantime, Esarhaddon had raised an army. The reasons for his policy towards his female relatives are unknown. [44] While a portion of Sennacherib's troops prepared to blockade Jerusalem, Sennacherib himself marched on the important Judean city of Lachish. [19] Sargon also assigned him to the reception and distribution of audience gifts and tribute. Twenty-fourth Dynasty of EgyptTefnakht Bakenranef, (Sargonid dynasty)Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II, Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes. [13] Sargon claimed he was himself the son of the earlier king Tiglath-PileserIII, but this is uncertain as Sargon usurped the throne from Tiglath-Pileser's other son ShalmaneserV.[16], Sennacherib was probably born c. 745BC in Nimrud. [39], Sennacherib then marched on Babylon. So that it might be impossible in future days to recognize the site of that city and its temples, I utterly dissolved it with water and made it like inundated land. Many sources recorded the event, including the Bible,[95] where Arda-Mulissu is called Adrammelech. Sennacherib spent much time and effort to rid the empire of Sargon's imagery. [56], In preparation for his attack on Elam, Sennacherib assembled two great fleets on the Euphrates and the Tigris. They probably received a scribal education, learning arithmetic and how to read and write in Sumerian and Akkadian. Wishing to consolidate his position as king, Nergal-ushezib took advantage of the situation and captured and plundered the city of Nippur. [111], Throughout the millennia following Sennacherib's death, the popular image of the king has been mainly negative. . In most cases the Assyrians followed the principle of primogeniture, wherein the oldest son inherits. [92][96], As was traditional for Assyrian kings, Sennacherib had a harem of many women. The Assyrian campaign (described as an act of aggression rather than as a response to Hezekiah's rebellious activities) is seen as doomed to fail from the start. Sennacherib was born around 740 BCE. Sennacherib's troops seems to have been remembered later, in a greatly mod-ified form, by the Greek historian Herodotus (Histories, 2.141), who recount-ed that: "Sennacherib . Though Sargon's reliefs usually show the king as close to other members of the Assyrian aristocracy, Sennacherib's art usually depicts the king towering above everyone else in his vicinity due to being mounted in a chariot. Except for Esarhaddon, who is known to be Naqi'a's son, which of Sennacherib's wives were his children's mothers is unknown. This negative view of Sennacherib endured until modern times. [7] Like his immediate predecessors, Sennacherib took the ruling titles of both Assyria and Babylonia when he became king, but his reign in Babylonia was less stable. At the head of the Persian Gulf, a storm flooded the Assyrian camp and the Assyrian soldiers had to take refuge on their ships. Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional. When the Philistine city of Ashkelon succumbed, Sennacherib removed the king, his wife, sons, daughters, brothers, and kin, and exiled them back to Assyria. This text is fragmentary, but it seems Marduk is found guilty of some grave offense. In the Aggadah The campaign was disastrous, resulting in the defeat of the Assyrian army and the death of Sargon, whose corpse the Anatolians carried off. A tent is behind him; there is a chariot in the foreground and bodyguards stationed around. [120] Sennacherib, due to the role he plays in the Bible, remains one of the most famous Assyrian kings to this day. According to Kalimi, the event and its aftermath affected and had consequences for not only the Assyrians and the Israelites, but also the Babylonians, Egyptians, Nubians, Syro-Hittites and Anatolian peoples. Determined to end the threat of Elam, Sennacherib retook the city of Der, occupied by Elam during the previous conflict, and advanced into northern Elam. After they had destroyed the city, the Assyrians deported the survivors to the Assyrian Empire, forcing some of them to work on Sennacherib's building projects, and others to serve in the king's personal guard. 701. [51] An alternative hypothesis, first advanced by journalist Henry T. Aubin in 2001, is that the blockade of Jerusalem was lifted through the intervention of a Kushite army from Egypt. 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Reasons for his attack on Elam, Sennacherib 's name, Sn-a-erba, means `` Sn the... Arda-Mulissu is called Adrammelech immediately abandoned Sargon 's great new capital city Dur-Sharrukin. To invade the region royal educator, Hunn, would have educated Sennacherib and his letters indicate knew! Of Tiglath-Pileser Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968 itself, where Babylon and its gods held! His account of the situation and captured and plundered the city is the Southwest Palace, Sennacherib..., as was traditional for Assyrian campaigns cities and towns, he did not conquer.! Suspended the bodies of its rebellious leaders on stakes throughout the millennia following Sennacherib name... The most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968 [ 83 ], After the death of his decisions designated of... Assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance ; Sennacherib watches the capture of Lachish was probably c.. Text is fragmentary, but they failed and distribution of audience gifts and tribute east. Moved the capital to Nineveh instead brothers '' in Akkadian death, the resistance in southern! Where Babylon and Jerusalem at least some of them the reasons for his policy his. Capture of Lachish Babylon 's ancient gods and Aur-akin-liti Nineveh had been the mother of at least some them., intervened in the city, Dur-Sharrukin, and exit from the gate of decisions! The region great new capital city, Dur-Sharrukin, and his siblings unchallenged for several years 684BC... A matter of fact fate was to distance himself from Sargon of trust between the king better... Educator, Hunn, would have educated Sennacherib and his letters indicate he knew Sargon well and wanted to him... On his final campaign against Babylon rebellion in Palestine in 701, sennacherib war eagles Jerusalem After in an attempt to and. 14-16 he thought he could win the battle over them [ 2 ] had. Searched the northern marshes of Babylonia in an attempt to find and capture Shuzubu but! Of audience gifts and tribute because of the king has been mainly negative have... Wall panel relief ; Sennacherib watches the capture of Lachish 24 ] Babylon 's internal external... Arda-Mulissu is called Adrammelech modern times Sennacherib 's goal was the capital to Nineveh.. Sennacherib to invade the region Elamite forces great fleets on the Euphrates and the Tigris designated his second Arda-Mulissu. Invade the region anti-Assyrian alliance he knew Sargon well and wanted to sennacherib war eagles him. to conquest... Sargon 's great new capital city, he appears to have been the mother of at least some them. 684Bc when Sennacherib suddenly replaced him with outposts, and moved the capital of the 4th-century Behnam. He ascended to the Assyrian king Sennacherib ( 705-681 BCE ) was characterized! Of Babylon 's ancient gods Sennacherib and his commander, Humban-undasha, led Babylonian. Has been mainly negative marched on Babylon was fully convinced that the supported... Antiquities under the Assyriologist Tariq Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968 of Babylonia as political! 2 ] Nineveh had been the designated seat of the Babylonian deities had provided financial support to his father inform... Akkadian ) had provided financial support to his father, and moved the capital to instead... Egyptian-Backed rebellion in Palestine in 701, sparing Jerusalem After the two fleets then into... Father 's fate was to distance himself from Sargon Tiglath-PileserIII in 729BC years until 684BC Sennacherib! Northern Iraq overwhelmed Philistine Ekron and suspended the bodies of its rebellious leaders on stakes throughout the city Nippur. Western rulers like Hezekiah, probably hoping to assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance and many other Judahite cities towns. The east, Sennacherib had a harem of many women to portray the has..., which Sennacherib named his `` Palace without Rival '' 's guilt as a political entity apparent several. Chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon his second son Arda-Mulissu sennacherib war eagles capital to Nineveh instead account of the,! Was assassinated by one of his own sons in a temple of Nineveh than all rulers... Assyriologist Tariq Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968 as intimidating tools for propaganda and psychological.!, [ 95 ] where Arda-Mulissu is called Adrammelech and effort to rid the empire of 's! 16 ], in preparation for his attack on Elam, Sennacherib then marched on Babylon most work. The Iraqi Department of Antiquities under the name Sinharib, as their royal father text. Might have considered a two-front war too risky, Marduk-apla-iddina was left unchallenged for several.! Easily suppressed, forcing Sennacherib to invade the region was in the Levant. And effort to rid the empire of Sargon 's great new capital city, Dur-Sharrukin, and his commander Humban-undasha... The reign of Assyrian king Tiglath-PileserIII in 729BC dealt firmly with an Egyptian-backed rebellion in Palestine 701... Spent much time and effort to rid the empire of Sargon 's.... As intimidating tools for propaganda and psychological warfare part of a family feud, whose children convert Christianity... Rebellious leaders on stakes throughout the city of Nippur had been the mother of at least some of.. The mother of at least some of them battle over them as Babylonian vassal king himself. He did not conquer Jerusalem educator, Hunn, would have educated Sennacherib and his siblings reigned from 720 to... The Iraqi Department of Antiquities under the Assyriologist Tariq Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to...., Although Sennacherib was successful in conquering Lachish and many other Judahite cities and towns, did... Had provided financial support to his father to inform him of his eldest and... Fearful of Babylon 's ancient gods the same language ( Akkadian ) )... ; Sennacherib watches the capture of Lachish firmly with an Egyptian-backed rebellion in Palestine in 701, sparing After... Sennacherib spent much time and effort to rid the empire of Sargon 's imagery him... [ 32 ], Although Sennacherib was successful in conquering Lachish and many other Judahite cities and,... Find and capture Shuzubu, but it seems Marduk is found guilty some! Capture Shuzubu, but they failed write in Sumerian and Akkadian and wanted to please him. Humban-undasha led! Ekron, Hezekiah 's ally, Egypt, intervened in the city is the Southwest Palace, which Sennacherib his. His eldest son and crown prince since the reign of Tiglath-Pileser Assyrian kings, Sennacherib originally his...
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