Sennacherib
placed a great deal of importance on the siege of Lachish
as evidenced by the manner in which he had the Lachish relief constructed in his
palace. Sennacherib was the first of the
Assyrian kings to use this method of depth perception in the visual reliefs of
important events[1]. The fact that Sennacherib went to the trouble
of either inventing this type of visual display or instructing his artisans to
improve on the old way signifies that he placed a great deal of importance on
the siege of Lachish. It is possible
that with the relative unrest in the world around him at this time that
Sennacherib wanted to be sure that all classes of people were able to
understand the size and scope of the siege, and that his Assyrian military was
not one to be trifled with.
The
relief is a very accurate depiction of the city of Lachish, and was clearly done in great detail
so that the city would be easily recognizable[2]. Contrary
to previous styles of reliefs, Sennacherib has done away with the horizontal
lines. He has also used a line to
mark-out the mountains. This could have
been done in an effort to make Lachish
more readily recognisable, as well as so that a more impressive display of the
siege could be achieved. The reasoning
for Lachish to be made such a prominent and
powerful example by Sennacherib could be due to the city’s importance to Judah[3]. Another
feature of the relief is that each group of people depicted is wearing
different style clothing. This could be
to help differentiate the people depicted from each other, and also to show
which people were involved both on the giving and receiving end of the siege,
as Sennacherib’s men are clearly dressed in the Assyrian garb and the men from Lachish are in their
traditional dress[4].
Further
evidence of the actuality of Sennacherib’s campaigns and the rebellion of
Hezekiah can be found both in the archaeology and in the Biblical
accounts. In Isaiah 36:1-2 it states
that “…in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib, king of
Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem…”[5]. Here there is not only reference to
Sennacherib waging war, but also specifically on Lachish.
This is also recorded in 2 Kings 18:13-17 and 2 Chronicles 32. These chapters and the ones surrounding them
also dictate Hezekiah and his refusal to pay a tribute to Sennacherib. Only after Sennacherib invaded Judah and took Lachish did Hezekiah decide to pay the
tribute[6]. This tribute raises another question which
Edelman discusses quite in-depth and thoroughly; what was the full amount of
tribute paid by Hezekiah?[7] There are differing amounts between the
Assyrian record and the account given in Isaiah, with the Biblical account once
again showing the least amount paid, and therefore the best outcome for
Hezekiah.
These
biblical accounts overlap mostly with Sennacherib’s relief, with a little
deviation in storyline and timeline, which is to be expected when coming from
not only a different source, but a different side of the same event. Between the accounts in Isaiah, 2 Kings, and
2 Chronicles, there is a difference in the story of Hezekiah paying
tribute. This is only mentioned in the
account from 2 Kings, although in Isaiah 36 it could be alluded to. This can be accounted for by the fact that
these accounts were all recorded by different people who were either present at
the event, hearing about the event second- or third-hand, or possibly even
trying to depict the best possible view of Hezekiah in their opinion.
Bibliography
Edelman,
D. (2000). ‘What If We Had No Accounts Of Sennacherib’s
Third Campaign Or The Palace Reliefs Depicting His Capture Of Lanchish?’ Biblical
Interpretation, 8, ½, pp. 88-103.
Holy
Bible, The. King James Version. (1989).
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Salt
Lake City, UT.
Russell,
J. (1993). ‘Sennacherib’s Lachish Narratives’. Narrative
and Event in Ancient Art. Cambridge University Press. pp.
55-73.
Ussishkin,
D. (1982). The
Conquest of Lachish
by Sennacherib. Tel Aviv University. pp.
24-30, 77, 127, 130.
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