Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant
| Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant | |||||||
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| Part of Sennacherib's campaigns | |||||||
Lachish relief showing the Siege of Lachish. Assyrian siege-engine attacking the city wall of Lachish, part of the ascending assaulting wave. Detail of a wall relief dating back to the reign of Sennacherib, 700-692 BCE. From Nineveh, Iraq, currently housed in the British Museum. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Supported by Kushite Egypt | Neo-Assyrian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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King Hezekiah Isaiah Ben-Amotz Eliakim Ben-Hilkiah Joahe Ben-Asaph Shebna Supported by Taharqa |
Sennacherib Rabshakeh Rabsaris Tartan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Many killed 200,150 Judeans exiled, 46 walled cities and many other towns destroyed | Unknown | ||||||
In 701 BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib launched a military campaign to re-conquer the Levant, which had fallen out of Assyrian hands due to a localized rebellion following the death of Sennacherib's predecessor Sargon II in 705 BCE. The rebellion involved several small states: Sidon and Ashkelon, which were taken by force; and Byblos, Ashdod, Ammon, Moab, and Edom, which subsequently submitted to paying tribute to the Assyrians. Assyrian armies also invaded the Kingdom of Judah, which had participated in the rebellion under Hezekiah after being encouraged by the Egyptians. Having captured most of Judah's settlements, the Assyrians trapped Hezekiah in Jerusalem, but did not take the city itself—Hezekiah was allowed to remain in power as King of Judah in exchange for paying a large tribute to the Assyrians and also surrendering adjacent lands, which were then redistributed to Assyrian vassals in Ekron, Gaza, and Ashdod.
The events of the Assyrian campaign in Judah are famously storied in the Hebrew Bible (2 Kings 18–19; Isaiah 36–37; and 2 Chronicles 32), wherein they culminate in the "Angel of the Lord" striking down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers outside of Jerusalem's gates, prompting Sennacherib's retreat to Nineveh.