Assignment 1:  Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem

Introduction

In the ninth century B.C.E. one major power arose in the form of the Assyrians, who starting in northern Mesopotamia created an empire through often brutal military conquests.  By means of almost constant warfare, the Assyrians created an empire that stretched from their capital of Nineveh on the Tigris River to central Egypt.  For those who opposed them, the Assyrians engaged them in bloody battles and laid siege to their towns and cities. In most cases, the people surrendered but were then faced with systematic torture and slaughter and sometimes deportations.  As the Assyrian empire spread it confronted large and small kingdoms.  One such small kingdom was the kingdom of Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem.  A couple of hundred years before this confrontation, the Jewish kingdom divided, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. By the year 722 B.C.E. Israel had been conquered. There is a wall sculpture in your Power Point presentation that shows the Assyrian army laying siege and attacking the walls of the Israelite city of Lachish.  However, the southern kingdom of Judah was more organized and presented a much greater challenge.  Judah's capital city, Jerusalem, was particularly difficult to conquer.  

Central Historical Question

What happened during Assyrian king Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem?

In around the year 701 BCE, king of Assyria Sennacherib attacked the fortified cities of the Kingdom of Judah in a campaign of suppression. Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem with their force, but unsuccessful to capture it, in Sennacherib's history Jerusalem was the only city stated as being besieged on Sennacherib's Stele, of which the capture is not mentioned. It is noted that these campaigns took two or three years, but by 701 BC the Assyrian king Sennacherib was ready to deal with the Levant. Historians wrote that, even though Sennacherib tried 'sweeping down like a wolf on the fold' and ravished the area with fire and sword, but cot captured completely.

From the both sides, their sources claimed the Assyrian siege as a victory, the Judahites -Biblical authors in the Tanakh, and Sennacherib in his prism. It is told in the Biblical books of Isaiah, Chronicles and Second Kings, as 'The Assyrians began their invasion, King Hezekiah began preparations to protect Jerusalem. In an effort to deprive the Assyrians of water, springs outside the city were blocked. Workers then dug a 533-meter tunnel to the Spring of Gihon, providing the city with fresh water. Additional siege preparations included fortification of the existing walls, construction of towers, and the erection of a new reinforcing wall. Hezekiah gathered the citizens in the square and encouraged them by reminding them that the Assyrians possessed only "an arm of flesh", but the Judeans had the protection of Yahweh'.

Sennacherib claimed the siege and capture of many Judaean cities, but only the siege—not capture—of Jerusalem. Sennacherib's Prism, which details the events of Sennacherib's campaign against Judah.