Time of Isiah

Hezekiah - late 8th early 7th centuries bc

Hezekiah - Hebrew Hizqiyya - Greek Ezekias

Son Of Ahaz - 13th Successor Of David as King Of Judah at Jerusalem.

715 bc: Dates Of His Reign - about 715 to about 686 bc inconsistencies in Biblical and Assyrian cuneiform records yield a wide range of possible dates.

735 bc: Hezekiah - reigned at a time when the Assyrian empire was consolidating its control of Palestine and Syria. His father had placed Judah under Assyrian suzerainty in 735 bc.

721 bc: Hezekiah may have taken part in a rebellion against King Sargon II of Assyria reigned 721-705 bc.

710 bc: The Assyrians crushed the revellion in 710 bc.

705 bc: At The Accession Of Sennacherib - 705-681 bc more rebellions broke out all over the Assyrian empire. Hezekiah a leader of the rebellion in Palestine that included city states of Ascalon and Ekron and gained support of Egypt. Preparing for the inevitable Assyrian campaign to retake Palestine Hezekiah strengthened defenses of his capital Jerusalem and dug out the famous Siloam tunnel (2 Kings 20:20 2 Chronicles 32:30) that brought water of the Gihon springs to a reservoir inside the city wall.

701 bc: Sennacherib - finally put down the rebellion in 701 bc overrunning Judah taking 46 of its walled cities and placing much conquered Judaean territory under the control of neighbouring states. While Sennacherib was besieging the city of Lachish Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem itself from capture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the Assyrian king who nevertheless demanded the city's unconditional surrender. At this point Jerusalem was saved by a miraculous plague that decimated the Assyrian army. This event gave rise to the belief in Judah that Jerusalem was inviolable a belief that lasted until the city fell to the Babylonians a century later.

Contradictory Dates For Sennacherib's Invasion - given in the Book of Kings he may have invaded Judah a second time near close of Hezekiah's reign.

In his religious reforms Hezekiah asserted Judah's inherited Hebrew traditions and practices against imported cults of the Assyrian gods.

He tried to achieve political and religious independence for Judah.

701 bc: The Catastrophe - of 701 bc among the people a place for a King who would restore the golden age of David.

Sennacherib - Assyrian King

Akkadian - Sin-akhkheeriba - died January 681 bc Nineveh - now in Iraq

705 bc: King Of Assyria - 705-704-681 bc son of Sargon II.

Sennacherib Made Nineveh His Capital - building a new palace extending and beautifying the city erecting inner and outer city walls that still stand. Sennacherib figures prominently in the Old Testament.

Early Career and Babylonian Campaigns - Sennacherib was son and successor of Sargon II. He inherited an Empire extending from Babylonia to southern Palestine into Asia Minor.

Before His Accession - he served with ability demonstrated by his extant reports as a senior administrator and diplomat in the north and northwest of the Empire. Main problem of his reign was in Babylonia where growth of the power of Chaldean and Aramaean tribes seriously disturbed the old urban centres whose interests in commerce and need for safe trade routes made them usually pro-Assyrian. Political instability worsened by interference of Elam southwestern Iran.

703 bc: Between 703 and 689 Sennacherib undertook six campaigns in that area attitude toward the capital city Babylon changed from acceptance of native rule to hostility.

703 bc: Peace Was Broken - in 703 bc by a tribal insurrection under Chaldean Merodach Baladan (Marduk-apal-iddina) with Elamite military assistance.

Sennacherib Recovered Northern Babylonia - and appointed a native Babylonian Bel-ibni as subking. His army devastated the tribal areas in southern Babylonia though he spared major Babylonian cities except for a few that had gone over to the tribesmen.

702 bc: Elamite Interference In Babylonia - probably dictated a campaign in 702 against the petty kingdoms of the Zagros Mountains vassals of Elam to forestall a possible Elamite thrust by that route toward eastern Assyria.

701 bc: a rebellion backed by Egypt though probably instigated by Merodach-Baladan (2 Kings 20:1218bc Isaiah 39:17) broke out in Palestine. Sennacherib reacted firmly supporting loyal vassals and taking the rebel cities except for Jerusalem that though besieged was spared on payment of a heavy indemnity (2 Kings 18:1319:36bc Isa. 36:137:37).

Biblical narrative implying two campaigns against Jerusalem no support from Assyrian sources.

Further intrigues by Merodach-Baladan necessitated another Assyrian campaign into the Chaldean area in 700. Merodach-Baladan thereupon took refuge in Elam where he soon died. Sennacherib's hardening attitude toward Babylon was marked by the introduction of direct Assyrian rule through the replacement of Bel-ibni by Sennacherib's son Ashur-nadin-shum. This gave Babylonia a brief period of stability during that Sennacherib undertook campaigns in Cilicia and the north.

Continuing Elamite support for disaffected Chaldean tribesmen led in 694 to a further attack on southern Babylonia coupled with a seaborne invasion of Elam across the Persian Gulf. Elam reacted by raiding northern Babylonia capturing Ashur-nadin-shum and installing a nominee who reigned for 18 months until removed during a fresh Assyrian attack.

Another Chaldean leader Mushezib-Marduk now seized Babylon and by opening the temple treasuries bought massive military support from Elam. In 691 the Assyrian and Elamite armies met at Halule on the Diyala where Sennacherib though claiming a victory suffered losses that left him temporarily impotent.

689 bc: he returned to besiege Babylon capturing it after nine months. Abandoning attempts to conciliate this great cult centre Sennacherib systematically sacked Babylonbc a text exists that probably represents a theological justification for this impiety.

Building and technological achievements
Sennacherib's most enduring work was the rebuilding of Nineveh his official residence as crown prince. On his accession he made it his capital building a splendid new palace Shanina-la-ishu (“Nonesuch”). Using prisoners of war for labour he extended and beautified the city laying out streets restoring and extending public buildings and erecting a great inner wall nearly 8 miles (13 km) long that encircled the city and an outer wallbc both walls still stand.

Around his capital he established plantations of fruit trees and parks of exotic trees and plantsbc among his introductions was the cotton plant described as the wool-bearing tree.

To irrigate the plantations for that at times the Tigris and Khosr rivers fell too low Sennacherib sought springs and streams in the hills north of Nineveh and led them by 6 miles (10 km) of canal and a massive stone aqueduct to feed the Khosr. He also undertook building activities in other cities particularly Ashur.

Sennacherib claimed to be of clever understanding a boast supported by his initiatives in technology. He had surveys undertaken for new sources of alabaster and building stone and he discovered new stands of giant timber in mountain forests. He devised a new and less laborious method of bronze casting and introduced more convenient equipment for raising water from wells. He showed considerable logistic ability in his seaborne attack on Elam in that ships built in Nineveh were taken by Phoenician sailors down the Tigris overland to a canal of the Euphrates and thence to the Persian Gulf.

691 bc: Sennacherib died in January 681 by parricide probably at Nineveh. He was survived by his principal wife Naqia mother of his heir Esarhaddonbc her non-Assyrian name suggests that she was of either Jewish or Aramaean origin.

Because of his attack on Jerusalem Sennacherib receives prominence in the Bible. Isaiah regarded Sennacherib as God's instrument (2 Kings 19:23–28 Isa. 37:24–29 the prophet did not condemn the king's military activities as such though punishment was decreed for his arrogance in not acknowledging the divine source of his power.

In The Story of Ahikar a pre-Christian Oriental work Sennacherib is portrayed as a king of apparently good repute under whom the sage Ahikar servedbc where this same story is alluded to in the Old Testament apocryphal book of Tobit however the king is cast in an evil role. A similar ambivalence is shown in Jewish Talmudic tradition where Sennacherib though called an evil man is regarded as the ancestor of the teachers of the celebrated Rabbi Hillel.

Classical tradition retained a memory of Sennacherib's activities not only in Babylonia but also in Cilicia where the building of Tarsus on the plan of Babylon was attributed to him. He was also credited with building a temple at Athens. Herodotus' story of an attempted invasion of Egypt frustrated by mice eating the Assyrian bowstrings and quivers may reflect a plague epidemic during Sennacherib's Palestinian campaignbc this possibly underlay the story in 2 Kings 19:35bc Isa. 37:36 of the decimation of the Assyrian army by God's destroying angel that inspired Lord Byron's poem The Destruction of Sennacherib.

Mesopotamia - to end of Achaemenian period - Neo-Assyrian Empire 746–609

Sennacherib - 704–681 was well prepared for his position as sovereign. With him Assyria acquired an exceptionally clever and gifted though often extravagant ruler. His father interestingly enough is not mentioned in any of his many inscriptions. He left the new city of Dur-Sharrukin at once and resided in Ashur for a few years until in 701 he made Nineveh his capital.

Sennacherib had considerable difficulties with Babylonia.

703 bc: Marduk-apal-iddina again crowned himself king with the aid of Elam proceeding at once to ally himself with other enemies of Assyria. After nine months he was forced to withdraw when Sennacherib defeated a coalition army consisting of Babylonians Aramaeans and Elamites.

702 bc: new puppet king of Babylonia Bel-ibni 702–700 raised in Assyria.

702 bc: Sennacherib launched a raid into western Iran.

701 bc: there followed his most famous campaign against Syria and Palestine with the purpose of gaining control over the main road from Syria to Egypt in preparation for later campaigns against Egypt itself. When Sennacherib's army approached Sidon immediately expelled its ruler Luli who was hostile to Assyria. Other allies either surrendered or were defeated. An Egyptian army was defeated at Eltekeh in Judah. Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem and the king of Judah Hezekiah was called upon to surrender but he did not comply. An Assyrian officer tried to incite the people of Jerusalem against Hezekiah but his efforts failed. In view of the difficulty of surrounding a mountain stronghold such as Jerusalem and of the minor importance of this town for the main purpose of the campaign Sennacherib cut short the attack and left Palestine with his army that according to the Old Testament (2 Kings 19:35) had been decimated by an epidemic. The number of Assyrian dead is reported to have risen to 185000. Nevertheless Hezekiah is reported to have paid tribute to Sennacherib on at least one occasion.

700 bc: Bel-ibni of Babylonia seceded from the union with Assyria in 700.

Sennacherib moved quickly defeating Bel-ibni and replacing him with Sennacherib's oldest son Ashur-nadin-shumi. The next few years were relatively peaceful. Sennacherib used this time to prepare a decisive attack against Elam that time and again had supported Babylonian rebellions. The overland route to Elam had been cut off and fortified by the Elamites. Sennacherib had ships built in Syria and at Nineveh. The ships from Syria were moved on rollers from the Euphrates to the Tigris. The fleet sailed downstream and was quite successful in the lagoons of the Persian Gulf and along the southern coastline of Elam. The Elamites launched a counteroffensive by land occupying Babylonia and putting a man of their choice on the throne.

693 bc: Not until 693 were the Assyrians again able to fight their way through to the north.

689 bc: in 689 Sennacherib had his revenge. Babylon was conquered and completely destroyed temples plundered and leveled. Waters of the Arakhtu Canal were diverted over the ruins and the inner city remained almost totally uninhabited for eight years.

Many Assyrians Were Indignant - at this believing that the Babylonian god Marduk must be grievously offended at the destruction of his temple and the carrying off of his image.

Marduk Was Also An Assyrian Deity - to whom many Assyrians turned in time of need. A political-theological propaganda campaign was launched to explain to the people that what had taken place was in accord with the wish of most of the gods.

A story was written in that Marduk because of a transgression was captured and brought before a tribunal. Only a part of the commentary to this botched piece of literature is extant.

The Great Poem Of The Creation Of The World - the Enuma elish was altered: the god Marduk was replaced by the god Ashur.

Sennacherib's boundless energies brought no gain to his empire however and probably weakened it. The tenacity of this king can be seen in his building projectsbc for example when Nineveh needed water for irrigation Sennacherib had his engineers divert the waters of a tributary of the Great Zab River. The canal had to cross a valley at Jerwan. An aqueduct was constructed consisting of about two million blocks of limestone with five huge pointed archways over the brook in the valley. The bed of the canal on the aqueduct was sealed with cement containing magnesium. Parts of this aqueduct are still standing today. Sennacherib wrote of these and other technological accomplishments in minute detail with illustrations.

Sennacherib built a huge palace in Nineveh adorned with reliefs some of them depicting the transport of colossal bull statues by water and by land. Many of the rooms were decorated with pictorial narratives in bas-relief telling of war and of building activities. Considerable advances can be noted in artistic execution particularly in the portrayal of landscapes and animals. Outstanding are the depictions of the battles in the lagoons the life in the military camps and the deportations.

681 bc: there was a rebellion. Sennacherib was assassinated by one or two of his sons in the temple of the god Ninurta at Kalakh. This god along with the god Marduk had been badly treated by Sennacherib the event was widely regarded as punishment of divine origin.

Esarhaddon - Ashur-aha-iddinabc 680–669

Ignoring claims of his older brothers an imperial council appointed Esarhaddon as Sennacherib's successor. Esarhaddon unlike his father was friendly toward the Babylonians. It can be assumed that his energetic and designing mother Zakutu (Naqia) who came from Syria or Judah used all her influence on his behalf to override the national party of Assyria. He was able to attain the loyalty of his father's army. His brothers had to flee to Urartu. In his inscriptions Esarhaddon always mentions both his father and grandfather.

Defining the destruction of Babylon explicitly as punishment by the god Marduk the new king soon ordered the reconstruction of the city. He referred to himself only as governor of Babylonia and through his policies obtained the support of the cities of Babylonia.

675 bc: beginning of his reign the Aramaean tribes were still allied with Elam against him but Urtaku of Elam (675–664) signed a peace treaty and freed him for campaigning elsewhere.

679 bc: he stationed a garrison at the Egyptian border because Egypt under the Ethiopian king Taharqa was planning to intervene in Syria. He put down with great severity a rebellion of the combined forces of Sidon Tyre and other Syrian cities. The time was ripe to attack Egypt that was suffering under the rule of the Ethiopians and was by no means a united country.

674 bc: Esarhaddon's first attempt in 674–673 miscarried.

671 bc: his forces took Memphis the Egyptian capital. Assyrian consultants assigned to assist the princes of 22 provinces main duty being the collection of tribute.

Occasional Threats Came From - the mountainous border regions of eastern Anatolia and Iran. Pushed forward by the Scythians the Cimmerians in northern Iran and Transcaucasia tried to gain a foothold in Syria and western Iran.

Esarhaddon Allied Himself With Scythian King Partatua - by giving him one of his daughters in marriage. In so doing he checked the movement of the Cimmerians. Nevertheless the apprehensions of Esarhaddon can be seen in his many offerings supplications and requests to the sun god. These were concerned less with his own enterprises than with the plans of enemies and vassals and the reliability of civil servants. The priestesses of Ishtar had to reassure Esarhaddon constantly by calling out to him “Do not be afraid.” Previous kings as far as is known had never needed this kind of encouragement.

At Home Esarhaddon - faced with serious difficulties from factions in the court. His oldest son had died early. The national party suspected his second son Shamash-shum-ukin of being too friendly with the Babyloniansbc he may also have been considered unequal to the task of kingship.

672 bc: His third son Ashurbanipal was given the succession in 672 Shamash-shum-ukin remaining crown prince of Babylonia. This arrangement caused much dissension and some farsighted civil servants warned of disastrous effects. Nevertheless the Assyrian nobles priests and city leaders were sworn to just such an adjustment of the royal linebc even the vassal princes had to take very detailed oaths of allegiance to Ashurbanipal with many curses against perjurers.

Another matter of deep concern for Esarhaddon was his failing health. He regarded eclipses of the moon as particularly alarming omens and in order to prevent a fatal illness from striking him at these times he had substitute kings chosen who ruled during the three eclipses that occurred during his 12-year reign. The replacement kings died or were put to death after their brief term of office. During his off-terms Esarhaddon called himself Mister Peasant. This practice implied that the gods could not distinguish between the real king and a false one quite contrary to the usual assumptions of the religion.

Esarhaddon enlarged and improved the temples in both Assyria and Babylonia. He also constructed a palace in Kalakh using many of the picture slabs of Tiglath-Pileser III. The works that remain are not on the level of those of either his predecessors or of Ashurbanipal. He died while on an expedition to put down a revolt in Egypt. Assyrian empire 858-627 bc.

Esarhaddon - flourished 7th century bc - also spelled Essarhaddon Assyrian Ashur-aha-iddina - Ashur Has Given Me a Brother.

680 bc: King of Assyria - 680-669 bc a descendant of Sargon II. Esarhaddon is best known for his conquest of Egypt in 671.

689 bc: he was a younger son Esarhaddon successor to the throne by his father Sennacherib who had appointed him governor of Babylon some time after Sennacherib sacked that city in 689.

681 bc: Sennacherib was murdered 681 by one or more of Esarhaddon's brothers apparently in an attempt to seize the throne. Marching quickly from the west Esarhaddon encountered rebel forces in Hanigalbat western Assyria where most of them deserted to him and their leaders fled. Esarhaddon continued on to Nineveh where he claimed the throne without opposition.

In southern Babylonia meanwhile the leader of a Chaldean tribe took advantage of the revolt and attacked the Assyrian governor at Ur. When Esarhaddon sent troops against the chieftain he fled northeastward expecting to find asylum in Elam. Instead the new Elamite king summarily executed him. The rebel's brother however escaped to Assyria and submitted to Esarhaddon who appointed him a local ruler in his dead brother's place. This rare instance of Assyrian mercy bore rich dividends for he remained loyal throughout Esarhaddon's reign.

The cities of northern Babylonia that had suffered severely under Sennacherib were shown particular favour under Esarhaddon. He restored land to displaced citizens who could make good their claims and in 678 he took military action against a Chaldean tribe that had encroached on the lands of Borsippa and Babylon.

Farther north the pressure of Cimmerians and Scythians was being increasingly felt.

Esarhaddon Said To - have made a marriage alliance with Scythians to strengthen his position there. Pressure of the Cimmerians continued.

Esarhaddon finally lost control of much of northwestern provinces of Cilicia and Tabal.

675 bc: When Egypt inspired a revolt of the Phoenician city of Tyre Esarhaddon attacked Egypt 675 bc.

671 bc: he had little success until 671 when he seized Memphis and defeated the Egyptian king Taharqa who fled south leaving the entire country to Esarhaddon. For the first time a Mesopotamian ruler included King of Egypt among his royal titles.

669 bc: after withdrawal of Assyrian army Taharqa emerged attracted a following. Esarhaddon marching to put down the rebellion when in 669 he died.

672 bc: Esarhaddon had proclaimed detailed instructions for the succession of two of his sons to the thrones of Assyria and Babylonia and at his death the successions were carried out smoothly.