Sennacherib was an important king who ruled in Assyria from 705 B

Sennacherib

Sennacherib was an important king who ruled in Assyria from 705 B.C to 681 B.C. He was born the son of Sargon II. After Sargon II died in the height of his power in

705 B.C., the thrown was passed on to Sennacherib, who was for the most part an inexperienced leader.

One of his first acts as the new king was to launch a military expedition against Merodach-baladan of Babylonia. He defeated and banned him from Babylon in

703 B.C., appointing Bel-ibni king of Babylon. He than marched eastward to conquer the Medians. Later on back in the west a rebellion broke out, having been initiated by Merodach-baladan and Hezekiah of Judah. So Sennacherib returned in 701 B.C., capturing Sidon and other Phoenician towns and defeating an Ethiopian-Egyptian army at Ekron. After failing to take the Phoenician city of Tyre, Sennacherib then turned on Judah, taking 46 cities. He wrote this about it:

As to Hezekiah, the Judahite, he did not submit to my yoke. I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and concurred them by means of well-stamped earth ramps, and battering rams brought thus near to the walls combined with the attack by foot soldiers, using mines, breeches as well as sapper work. I drove out of them 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, donkey’s, camels, big and small cattle beyond counting, and considered them booty. Himself, [Hezekiah] I made prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were leaving his city’s gate. His towns which I had plundered, I took away from his country and gave them over to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, Padi, king of Ekron, and Sillibel, king of Gaza. Thus I reduced his country, but still I increased the tribute.

Aside from the numbers of captives possibly being a major exaggeration, the collective information from the Assyrian records and archaeological excavations in Judah sufficiently verify the intensity of the efficient campaign of siege and pillage. Sennacherib began in the Shephelah foothills, Judah’s richest agricultural area, than went up toward the highland capital. The remains the archaeologists have found match perfectly with the Assyrian texts. As an example: the conquest of the Judahite city of Azekah was described as being “located on a mountain ridge, like pointed iron daggers without number reaching high to heaven.” The city was taken, pillaged, and then ravaged. This matches with what archaeologists have found today at the sight of this ancient city.

It says in II Kings 18:17-25 that Sennacherib demanded a payoff from Hezekiah. Hezekiah strips the temple of all its gold, and gives Sennacherib 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver. Now Sennacherib is pacified for a time.

The Assyrians were a cold and cruel nation. It has been said the Assyrians were the Nazi’s of the ancient world. By about 800 B.C., the Assyrians had become dominant in the Ancient Near East.

Later Sennacherib renewed his campaign in Babylonia. Merodach-baladan had again seized the power, displacing Bel-ibni. He defeated Merodach –baladan and placed his own son, Ashur-nadin-shum on the thrown. The next 11 years were spent mainly in the south fighting against the Elamites. In 694 B.C. they captured Babylon.

Three years later Sennacherib defeated the combined kingdoms of Elam and Babylon at Khalulu, which is on the Tigris River. In 689 B.C. he destroyed Babylon.

In 681 B.C. Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons, Adrammelch and Serasar. Another one of his sons became king in his place.

Sennacherib is famous as being the builder of the splendid Kuyunjik

(Place without a Rival) at Nineveh, his capital.

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