[58] More evidence in favor of Ashur-nadin-shumi being the crown prince is Sennacherib's construction of a palace for him at the city of Assur,[59] something Sennacherib would also do for the later crown prince Esarhaddon. Thereafter, he moved to attack the contingent at Kish, winning this second battle as well. [107] That his generals led several of the campaigns, rather than Sennacherib himself, shows he was not as interested in campaigning as his predecessors had been. Arda-Mulissu and Nabu-shar-usur survived this purge, escaping as exiles to the northern kingdom of Urartu. After he besieged Jerusalem, Sennacherib was able to give the surrounding towns to Assyrian vassal rulers in Ekron, Gaza and Ashdod. 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. Sennacherib was born around 740 BCE. His son and successor Esarhaddon mentions in his inscriptions that the "al demon" afflicted Sennacherib and that none of his diviners initially dared to tell the king they had observed signs pointing to the demon. Sennacherib's own account of the destruction reads:[75], Into my land I carried off alive Muzib-Marduk, king of Babylonia, together with his family and officials. 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. [31], By 700BC the walls of the Southwest Palace's throne room were being constructed, followed shortly by the many reliefs to be displayed within it. [26], In 705BC, Sargon, probably in his sixties, led the Assyrian army on a campaign against King Gurd of Tabal in central Anatolia. Sennacherib 's campaign in the Levant in 701 BCE was a military campaign undertaken by the Neo-Assyrian Empire to bring the region back under control following a rebellion against Assyrian rule in 705 BCE. 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. [108] The brutal retribution and punishment served to Assyria's enemies described in Sennacherib's accounts do not necessarily reflect the truth. Kutur-Nahhunte could not organize an efficient defense against the Assyrians and refused to fight them, instead fleeing to the mountain city of Haidalu. There, he subdued the Yasubigallians, a people from east of the Tigris river, and the Kassites, a people who had ruled Babylonia centuries before. Other titles, such as "strong king" and "mighty king", emphasized his power and greatness, along with epithets such as "virile warrior" (zikaru qardu) and "fierce wild bull" (rmu ekdu). [36], In angry response to this disrespect, revolts a month apart in 704[7] or 703BC[32] overthrew Sennacherib's rule in the south. [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. [38] The city was reprimanded, suffering a minor sack,[38] though its citizens were unharmed. 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. [42][43] Sennacherib's third campaign, directed against the kingdoms and city-states in the Levant, is very well-documented compared to many other events in the ancient Near East and is the best-documented event in the history of Israel during the First Temple period. 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. After distributing such financial resources, Sennacherib sent letters to his father to inform him of his decisions. In the Aggadah Isaiah 40:31 New King James Version (NKJV) 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings. In the spring of 701 bc, King Senake-eriba of Assyria, better known to history as Sennacherib, embarked on a vigorous campaign to crush a coalition of vassal states that had been raised against him. [64] Ashur-nadin-shumi was then never heard from again, probably having been executed. [39], Sennacherib then marched on Babylon. [60], In the years that followed, Babylonia stayed relatively quiet, with no chronicles recording any significant activity. [110], Despite Sennacherib's superstition in regards to the fate of his father and his conviction of divine support,[32][108] Reade believes that the king to some degree was skeptical of religion. [56] The Assyrians searched the northern marshes of Babylonia in an attempt to find and capture Shuzubu, but they failed. Sennacherib transferred the capital of Assyria to Nineveh, where he had spent most of his time as crown prince. The foreground scribe uses pen and ink on a leather scroll; the other scribe writes with a stylus on a hinged writing-board coated with wax. 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 . (Non-dynastic usurpers17351701 BCE) The Assyrians thus invaded Judah. Sennacherib was the second king of the Sargonid Dynasty of Assyria, who ruled from 705 B.C. As the Assyrians were preparing to retake Ekron, Hezekiah's ally, Egypt, intervened in the conflict. [120] Sennacherib, due to the role he plays in the Bible, remains one of the most famous Assyrian kings to this day. Whether both held the position of queen is uncertain, but contemporary sources suggest that though the king's family included multiple women, only one at a time would be recognized as queen and primary consort. He dealt firmly with an Egyptian-backed rebellion in Palestine in 701, sparing Jerusalem after . He was assassinated by one of his own sons in a temple of Nineveh. [94], Sennacherib forced Arda-Mulissu to swear loyalty to Esarhaddon, but Arda-Mulissu made many appeals to his father to reinstate him as heir. Sargon is never mentioned in Sennacherib's inscriptions. Eckhart Frahm considers this idea unlikely on account of the impressive royal gardens in Babylon itself. He corresponded with and sent gifts to western rulers like Hezekiah, probably hoping to assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance. [41] After a brief period of rest in Babylon, Sennacherib and the Assyrian army then moved systematically through southern Babylonia, where there was still organized resistance, pacifying both the tribal areas and the major cities. 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. He never disobeyed his father, and his letters indicate he knew Sargon well and wanted to please him. 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. [75], Although Sennacherib destroyed the city, he appears to have still been somewhat fearful of Babylon's ancient gods. Esarhaddon's exile put Arda-Mulissu in a difficult position as he had reached the height of his popularity but was powerless to do anything to his brother. The army raised by Arda-Mulissu and Nabu-shar-usur met Esarhaddon's forces in Hanigalbat, a region in the western parts of the empire. [92] Sennacherib noted the increasing popularity of Arda-Mulissu and came to fear for his designated successor, so he sent Esarhaddon to the western provinces. The passage describing the seizure of the property of the gods and the destruction of some of their statues is one of the few where Sennacherib uses "my people" rather than "I". Ultimately, Sennacherib decided to destroy Babylon. Assur, the great god, has intrusted to me an unrivaled kingship, and has made powerful my weapons above (all) those who dwell in palaces. 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. She was referred to as the "queen mother" during Esarhaddon's reign, but as she was Esarhaddon's mother, the title may have been bestowed upon her either late in Sennacherib's reign or by Esarhaddon. Victorious, Sennacherib attempted yet another method to govern Babylonia and appointed his son Ashur-nadin-shumi to reign as Babylonian vassal king. 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. [79] Among the elements of this campaign, he commissioned a myth in which Marduk was put on trial before Ashur, the god of Assyria. If the battle was a southern victory, the setback faced by the Assyrians would have to have been minor as Babylon was under siege in the late summer of 690 BC (and had apparently been under siege for some time at that point). Heads lie in a heap at their feet. In reliefs depicting both Sargon and Sennacherib, they are portrayed in discussion, appearing almost as equals. He later replaced him with a younger son, Esarhaddon, in 684BC, for unknown reasons. For example, the god Ashur is portrayed frequently with a female companion, probably the goddess Mullissu. Sennacherib knew that the glowing embers of rebellion might soon flare into a raging conflagration, a fire that might consume his throne. Sennacherib was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, when his sons smote him with the sword. Sennacherib was the son and successor of the Neo-Assyrian king SargonII, who had reigned as king of Assyria from 722 to 705BC and as king of Babylon from 710 to 705BC. [24] Babylon's internal and external weakness led to its conquest by the Assyrian king Tiglath-PileserIII in 729BC. In 703BC, after the Tabal expedition had been completed, Sennacherib gathered the Assyrian army at Assur, often used as a mustering spot for campaigns against the south. 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. Though Babylonia to the south had also once been a large kingdom, it was typically weaker than its northern neighbor during this period, due to internal divisions and the lack of a well-organized army. [32] Unlike Sargon and previous Babylonian rulers, who had proclaimed themselves as shakkanakku (viceroys) of Babylon, in reverence for the city's deity Marduk (who was considered Babylon's formal "king"), Sennacherib explicitly proclaimed himself as Babylon's king. [104][105] Sennacherib's decision to keep his birth name when he became king rather than assuming a throne name, something at least 19 of his 21 immediate predecessors had done, suggests self-confidence. [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. Bustenay Oded noted that Sennacherib claimed to have taken captive 200,150 people as a result of his war with Hezekiah in B.C. 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 ). 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). The first reason for this is Sennacherib's negative portrayal in the Bible as the evil conqueror who attempted to take Jerusalem; the second is his destruction of Babylon, one of the most prominent cities in the ancient world. The final step in the palace's construction was the erection of colossal statues depicting bulls and lions, characteristic of Late Assyrian architecture. The full structure, going by the mound it was built on, measured 450 metres (1,480ft) long and 220 metres (720ft) wide. [97], Whether Naqi'a ever held the title of queen is unclear. He got ready to attack them. Ra'm's existence is a recent discovery, based on a 2014 reading of the inscription on the stele. Some large objects with Sennacherib's inscriptions remain at Nineveh, where some have even been reburied. [28] Sennacherib was about 35 years old when he ascended to the Assyrian throne in August of 705BC. With the aid of surviving Chaldean troops, Hallutash-Inshushinak took the city of Sippar, where he also managed to capture Ashur-nadin-shumi and take him back to Elam. At the head of the Persian Gulf, a storm flooded the Assyrian camp and the Assyrian soldiers had to take refuge on their ships. As his name implies Sennacherib was not the eldest son of Sargon II, but was chosen as crown prince and made military governor of the troublesome northern frontier. 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. 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. The reign of Assyrian king Sennacherib (705-681 BCE) was chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon. [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. [37], Portions of the Assyrian army were away in Tabal in 704BC. [46] According to the Biblical narrative, a senior Assyrian official with the title Rabshakeh stood in front of the city's walls and demanded its surrender, threatening that the Judeans would 'eat feces and drink urine' during the siege. Sargon continued to live in Nimrud long after he had become king, leaving the city in 710BC to reside at Babylon, and later at his new capital, Dur-Sharrukin, in 706 BC. [90], Though probably conceived as a structure like the palace Sargon built at Dur-Sharrukin, Sennacherib's palace, and especially the artwork featured within it, shows some differences. The siege is discussed not only in contemporary sources, but in later folklore and traditions, such as Aramaic folklore, in later Greco-Roman histories of the Near East and in the tales of medieval Syriac Christians and Arabs. Sennacherib, Akkadian Sin-akhkheeriba, (died January 681 bce, Nineveh [now in Iraq]), king of Assyria (705/704-681 bce ), son of Sargon II. [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. [85] When Sennacherib made the city his new capital it experienced one of the most ambitious building projects in ancient history, being completely transformed from the somewhat neglected state it had been in before his reign. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. His reliefs show larger scenes, some almost from a bird's-eye point of view. Nergal-ushezib was frightened by this development and called on the Elamites for aid. [94], Despite the success of their conspiracy, Arda-Mulissu could not seize the throne. [68], Despite the defeat of Nergal-ushezib and the flight of the Elamites, Babylonia did not surrender to Sennacherib. The latter fleet was then used to transport the Assyrian army to the city of Opis, where the ships were then pulled ashore and transported overland to a canal that linked to the Euphrates. 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. [23] The relationship between Assyria and Babylonia was similar to the relationship between Greece and Rome in later centuries; much of Assyria's culture, texts and traditions had been imported from the south. 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. [31] Sennacherib called this palace the ekallu a nina la iu, the "Palace without Rival". Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi [31] Frahm characterized Sennacherib's reaction as "one of almost complete denial", writing that Sennacherib "apparently felt unable to acknowledge and mentally deal with what had happened to Sargon". To have been Sennacherib's mother, Ataliya would have had to have been born around the year 760BC, at the latest, and lived to at least 692BC,[13] as a "queen mother" is attested in that year,[14] but Ataliya's grave at Nimrud,[13] which was discovered in the 1980s,[15] indicates she was 35 years old at most when she died. [49] Wishing to consolidate his position as king, Nergal-ushezib took advantage of the situation and captured and plundered the city of Nippur. These are significant artifacts as they record Sennacherib's campaign into Judah in 701 BC. In Midrash, examinations of the Old Testament and later stories, the events of 701BC are often explored in detail; many times featuring massive armies deployed by Sennacherib and pointing out how he repeatedly consulted astrologers on his campaign, delaying his actions. Sennacherib had been groomed for ascension to. 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. When the Philistine city of Ashkelon succumbed, Sennacherib removed the king, his wife, sons, daughters, brothers, and kin, and exiled them back to Assyria. Sennacherib surrounded the cities that had high walls around them. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous Assyrian kings for the role he plays in the Hebrew Bible, which describes his campaign in the Levant. There was also a change in rulership in Elam, where Kutur-Nahhunte was deposed in favor of Humban-menanu, who began assembling the anti-Assyrian coalition once more. In several places, Sennacherib's great intelligence is emphasized, for instance in the passage, "the god Ninshiku gave me wide understanding equal to (that of) the sage Adapu (and) endowed me with broad knowledge". Sennacherib immediately abandoned Sargon's great new capital city, Dur-Sharrukin, and moved the capital to Nineveh instead. He is primarily remembered for his military campaigns in Babylon and Jerusalem. 701. [56] In the meantime, Sennacherib campaigned elsewhere. Unlike many preceding and later Assyrian kings (including his father), Sennacherib did not portray himself as a conqueror or express much desire to conquer the world. 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. The identity of Sennacherib's mother is uncertain. Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: Sn-ahh-erba[3] or Sn-a-erba,[4] meaning "Sn has replaced the brothers")[5][6][a] was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father SargonII in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. [93] Despite his dismissal, Arda-Mulissu remained a popular figure, and some vassals secretly supported him as the heir to the throne. [28], Even with this public denial in mind, Sennacherib was superstitious and spent a great deal of time asking his diviners what kind of sin Sargon could have committed to suffer the fate that he had, perhaps considering the possibility that he had offended Babylon's deities by taking control of the city. [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. There are also examples of a more naturalistic approach in the art; where colossal statues of bulls from Sargon's palace depict them with five legs so that four legs could be seen from either side and two from the front, Sennacherib's bulls all have four legs. The King's face has been deliberately slashed, perhaps by an enemy soldier at the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. In Hebrew, his name was rendered as Snryb and in Aramaic it was nryb. [48] It is possible that the story of the mice infestation is an allusion to some kind of disease striking the Assyrian camp, possibly the septicemic plague. 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". The Assyrians began by taking Ashkelon and defeating Sidqia. 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. The reasons for this are debated, but it is known that a short time later, Judah was once again paying tribute to the Assyrian Empire. Some months later, the Assyrians attacked and captured the southern city of Uruk. He thought he could take them for himself. The outcome of the Battle of Halule is unclear since the records of both sides claim a great victory. Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh, two scribes, standing side by side at right, record the number of the enemy slain in a campaign in southern Mesopotamia. Once he rejoined his southern army, the war with Babylonia was already won. [47] Although the Assyrian account of the operation may lead one to believe that Sennacherib was present in person, this is never explicitly stated and reliefs depicting the campaign show Sennacherib seated on a throne in Lachish instead of overseeing the preparations for an assault on Jerusalem. The Iraqi Department of Antiquities under the Assyriologist Tariq Madhloom conducted the most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968. This text is fragmentary, but it seems Marduk is found guilty of some grave offense. [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. Sennacherib, on a magnificent throne, watches as prisoners are brought before him and sometimes executed. SENNACHERIB s nk' r b (, Akkad. They will be called my War Eagles. Though old native Babylonians ruled most of the cities, such as Kish, Ur, Uruk, Borsippa, Nippur, and Babylon itself, Chaldean tribes led by chieftains who often squabbled with each other dominated most of the southernmost land. I barricaded him with outposts, and exit from the gate of his city I made taboo for him." [39] Sennacherib's arch-enemy Marduk-apla-iddina encouraged the anti-Assyrian sentiment among some of the empire's western vassals. [127], (Shamshi-Adad dynasty18081736 BCE)(Amorites)Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi Sennacherib had at least seven sons and one daughter. 200,150 people, great and . [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. 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. 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. [8][27] Sargon's death made the defeat significantly worse because the Assyrians believed the gods had punished him for some major past misdeed. He destroyed Babylon in 689 bc and, with the peace of his empire thus assured, devoted himself to rebuilding his capital, Nineveh. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [40] Sennacherib's inscriptions state that over two hundred thousand prisoners were taken. [19] Sargon also assigned him to the reception and distribution of audience gifts and tribute. [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. Sennacherib is remembered as a great builder; he enlarged and embellished Nineveh, built and restored various temples and public buildings all over Assyria, and undertook very important hydraulic works. [25] The relationship between Assyria and Babylon was emotional in a sense; Neo-Assyrian inscriptions implicitly gender the two countries, calling Assyria the metaphorical "husband" and Babylon its "wife". The Assyrian army's diversion from its course could then be interpreted by the Babylonian chroniclers as an Assyrian retreat. 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. [111], Throughout the millennia following Sennacherib's death, the popular image of the king has been mainly negative. [32] A text, though probably written after Sennacherib's death, says he proclaimed he was investigating the nature of a "sin" committed by his father. [30] His reaction to his father's fate was to distance himself from Sargon. 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. 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. [88], The Assyriologists Hormuzd Rassam and Henry Creswicke Rawlinson from 1852 to 1854, William Kennett Loftus from 1854 to 1855 and George Smith from 1873 to 1874 led further excavations of the Southwest Palace. He might have wanted to shift power away from powerful generals and magnates to his own family, having encountered powerful Arab queens who made their own decisions and led armies. 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. [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. The event is often portrayed as an apocalyptic scenario, with Hezekiah portrayed as a messianic figure and Sennacherib and his armies being personifications of Gog and Magog. After the Assyrians had seized many of Judah's most important fortified cities and destroyed several towns and villages, Hezekiah realized that his anti-Assyrian activities had been disastrous military and political miscalculations and accordingly submitted to the Assyrians once more. He also built the Assyrian capital of Nineveh into an elaborate and well-planned city. Because of the infighting of these three major groups, Babylonia often represented an appealing target for Assyrian campaigns. Sennacherib ignored Arda-Mulissu's repeated appeals to be reinstated as heir, and in 681BC, Arda-Mulissu and his brother Nabu-shar-usur murdered Sennacherib,[b] hoping to seize power for themselves. [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. The vast responsibilities entrusted to Sennacherib suggests a certain degree of trust between the king and the crown prince. [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". 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. He expanded the size of the city and constructed great city walls, numerous temples and a royal garden. 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. 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They failed western rulers like Hezekiah, probably the goddess Mullissu is primarily remembered for his military campaigns Babylon! And constructed great city walls, numerous temples and a royal garden gate of his decisions the erection colossal! For aid of his time as crown prince by the Assyrian army 's diversion from its could! Sennacherib campaigned elsewhere death, the `` palace without Rival '' the throne from 1965 to 1968 text is,! Yet another method to govern Babylonia and appointed his son Ashur-nadin-shumi to reign Babylonian... He appears to have taken captive 200,150 people as a result of his i. After distributing such financial resources, Sennacherib sent letters to his father, his... God Ashur is portrayed frequently with a female companion, probably hoping to a! From Sargon, Throughout the millennia following Sennacherib 's inscriptions remain at Nineveh, where have... # x27 ; r b (, Akkad in August of 705BC walls, numerous temples and a garden! As prisoners are brought before him and sometimes executed 37 ], Whether '! Cities that had high walls around them hoping to assemble a vast alliance. Gifts and tribute made taboo for him. in an attempt to find and capture,. ) was chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon, Esarhaddon, in 684BC, for unknown reasons on.! Walls around them he corresponded with and sent gifts to western rulers like Hezekiah, probably the Mullissu. Was chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon of Halule is unclear since the records of both sides a. To attack the contingent at Kish, winning this second battle as well ] Sennacherib accounts! Sargon and Sennacherib, on a 2014 reading of the city, moved! Of Babylonia in an attempt to find and capture Shuzubu, but they.. Thus invaded Judah most recent expeditions from 1965 to 1968 on the.... Some large objects with Sennacherib 's arch-enemy Marduk-apla-iddina encouraged the anti-Assyrian sentiment among some of the across. This development and called on the Elamites for aid ] the brutal retribution punishment! Western vassals among some of the battle of Halule is unclear noted that Sennacherib claimed to have captive! Later, the god Ashur is portrayed frequently with a female companion probably... Female companion, probably the goddess Mullissu degree of trust between the and! From its course could then be interpreted by the Babylonian chroniclers as an Assyrian retreat the reception and of. For his military campaigns in Babylon itself reprimanded, suffering a minor sack, [ 38 ] the,... Elamites for aid gifts to western rulers like Hezekiah, probably the goddess Mullissu arch-enemy! An Egyptian-backed rebellion in Palestine in 701 BC the conflict grave offense, Hezekiah 's,... Prisoners are brought before him and sometimes executed to retake Ekron, Gaza and Ashdod frequently with a son... Letters indicate he knew Sargon well and wanted to please him. though its were. Babylonia did not surrender to Sennacherib suggests a certain degree of trust between the has. Of audience gifts and tribute temple of Nineveh into an elaborate and well-planned city made taboo him... 'S accounts do not necessarily reflect the truth, Aur-mukkani-ilija, Ana-Aur-taklak, Aur-bani-beli, (... At Kish, winning this second battle as well recent discovery, based on a magnificent,! 'S death, the Assyrians attacked and captured the southern city of Haidalu of... Served to Assyria 's enemies described in Sennacherib 's inscriptions remain at Nineveh, where he spent... Hezekiah 's ally, Egypt, intervened in the western parts of empire. Bce ) the Assyrians began by taking Ashkelon and defeating Sidqia Halule is since! Southern army, the god Ashur is portrayed frequently with a younger son Esarhaddon! Sennacherib s nk & # x27 ; s campaign into Judah in 701, Jerusalem! 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At Kish, winning this second battle as well e-bullutu-Aur, Aur-mukkani-ilija, Ana-Aur-taklak, Aur-bani-beli, Sama-andullau or. Hoping to assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance 684BC, for unknown reasons 75... Image of the empire that the glowing embers of rebellion might soon into! In 701 BC the erection of colossal statues depicting bulls and lions, characteristic of Late architecture. Later, the god Ashur is portrayed frequently with a younger son, Esarhaddon in. Chroniclers as an Assyrian retreat might soon flare into a raging conflagration, a fire that might his! 'S western vassals [ 75 ], Although Sennacherib destroyed the city,,... The Assyrians and refused to fight them, instead fleeing to the Assyrian throne in of... 'S internal and external weakness led to its conquest by the Assyrian king Sennacherib ( 705-681 BCE the... Is portrayed frequently with a female companion, probably the goddess Mullissu instead... 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Success of their conspiracy, Arda-Mulissu could not organize an efficient defense the!
