Sancheriv's Campaign and Assyrian Sources/0

Sancheriv's Campaign and Assyrian Sources

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Overview

The story of Sancheriv's campaign against Yehuda is one of the most documented events in Tanakh

Biblical Sources

Tanakh discusses Sancheriv's campaign at length in Melakhim II 18-19, Yeshayahu 36-37, and Divrei HaYamim II 32, and further alludes to it in the opening chapters of Yeshayahu¹ and Mikhah.²

•  Melakhim II  – The account in Melakhim is the fullest of the three sources, sharing how Chizkiyahu rebelled against Assyria, leading Sancheriv to retaliate in the fourteenth year of Chizkiyahu's reign. Sancheriv captured the fortified cities of Yehuda, prompting Chizkiyahu to send him a large tribute so that he would not attack Yerushalayim. For unknown reasons, the tribute did not have the desired effect and emissaries of Sancheriv returned to the city to convince the people to surrender.³  Chizkiyahu prays and Yeshayahu tells him not to fear, for Sancheriv will return to his land and die there. Though a brief respite is granted when the Assyrians are forced to deal with an Egyptian/Kushite threat, Chizkiyahu is not encouraged.  A second prayer leads to miraculous intervention as an angel strikes the Assyrian camp, killing 185,000 people and causing them to retreat.
• Yeshayahu – Yeshayahu's version of the campaign is almost identical to that of Melkahim, leaving out only the discussion of Chizkiyahu's original tribute. Other passages in the book further allude to and highlight the destruction wrought by Assyria, though Sancheriv himself is not explicitly mentioned.⁴
• Divrei HaYamim II  –  The account in Divrei HaYamim, though relatively brief,⁵ provides information regarding Chizkiyahu's preparations for Sancheriv's attack that is lacking in the other Biblical sources. Chizkiyahu fortified the city walls, made shields and weapons, appointed military captains and encouraged his soldiers. His most well known act is his plugging of the springs outside the city and diverting the water through "Chizkiyahu's tunnel"⁶ to ensure that the enemy could not benefit from the water⁷ while  Israel did.⁸  

Assyrian Sources

Sancheriv's campaign is well documented in Assyrian sources, as it is both described in detail in the Assyrian annals and portrayed pictorially in the Lakhish reliefs found in the palace of Nineveh.

• The Annals – Copies of Sancheriv's annals have been preserved on three monumental prisms known as the the Taylor Prism,⁹ the Jerusalem Prism,¹⁰ and the Oriental Institute Prism.¹¹ The inscriptions are almost identical¹² and constitute the latest and most comprehensive editions of Sancheriv's annals,¹³ detailing all eight of Sancheriv's campaigns, the third of which relates to his attack on Chizkiyahu and Yehuda.  According to the inscription, Sancheriv's campaign was an attempt to quell rebellions in Tzidon, Ahskelon, Ekron and Yehuda.  The four had formed a coalition against Assyria, with expectation of aid from Egypt. Chizkiyahu is mentioned in two sections of the annals.  In the context of the insurrection of Ekron, we are told that they overthrew their king, who had been a loyal vassal to Sancheriv and "handed him over to Hezekiah, the Jew" for safekeeping.  Later we read of the invasion of Yehuda.  Sancheriv boasts of having laid siege to 46 cities, imprisoning Chizkiyahu in Jerusalem, and plundering the towns. He ends by describing the extensive tribue paid to him by Chizkiyahu. 

¹ See Yeshayahu 1:4-9, Yeshayahu 8:7-8 , and Yeshayahu 10:5-19.  Not all agree that each of these chapters speak of Sancheriv's campaign specifically, but they do highlight the devastation brought by Assyria to the country as a whole. .

² See Mikhah 1:9-14.

³ The chapter discusses at length the various arguments made by Ravshakeh (Sancheriv's messenger) to dishearten the people and sway them to surrender. He tells the people that their reliance on aid from Egypt is misguided, for Egypt will not be a reliable ally, and questions whether the Judeans have enough horses to battle Assyria.  He further points to Assyria's many previous conquests, suggesting that their is no reason that Yehuda's fate should differ.  He also invokes religious arguments, pointing out that the gods of all the other lands did not save their inhabitants, so Yehuda should not assume that their god will be have any more success.  In suggesting that the people submit, he alludes to Assyria's policy of deportation, telling Yehuda " וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּאַרְצְכֶם".

⁴ Yeshayahu 1's description of the ravage done to Yehuda and Jerusalem's lone status would appear to match the era: "אַרְצְכֶם שְׁמָמָה עָרֵיכֶם שְׂרֻפוֹת אֵשׁ ... וְנוֹתְרָה בַת צִיּוֹן כְּסֻכָּה בְכָרֶם כִּמְלוּנָה בְמִקְשָׁה כְּעִיר נְצוּרָה." Yeshayahu 8 similarly describes how Assyria has spread throughout Yehuda, reaching the capital "עַד צַוָּאר יַגִּיעַ".

⁵ It omits the discussion of Chizkiyahu's tribute and shortens the description of the Assyrian negotiations, Chizkiyahu's prayers and Yeshayahu's encouragement.

⁶ The tunnel is open to the public in the City of David, and is known in Hebrew as נקבת חזקיהו or נקבת השילוח.

⁷ See Sancheriv's boast, "אֲנִי קַרְתִּי וְשָׁתִיתִי מַיִם זָרִים" (Melakhim II 19:24), which suggests that in other battles, he did manage to benefit from his enemies' water sources.

⁸ This engineering feat is also mentioned in Melakhim II 20:20 and alluded to in Yeshayahu 22:9-11.

⁹ The prism is currently housed in the British museum.

¹⁰ This copy is found in the Israel Museum.

¹¹ This monument is housed in the Oriental Institute in in Chicago. 

¹² The dates on the prisms attest that, despite the similarity, they were not all written at the same time, with the Jerusalem and Taylor Prisms dating to 691 BCE and the Oriental Institute Prism dating to 689 BCE.

¹³ There are many other copies of Sancheriv's annals, but most are fragmentary in nature.