- 104-
** To avoid the multiplication of references, we may state that, as regards the facts of
Assyrian history, we have mainly followed the work of Schrader, previously mentioned.
The long period of rest between the second year of Sargon and the accession of
Sennacherib had, no doubt, been employed by Hezekiah in further improving the
condition of the country, possibly in strengthening the defenses of Jerusalem, and
preparing for future eventualities (comp. 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:5-30, and other
passages). This is not the place to give a detailed account of the events of the reign of
Sennacherib, as we learn them from the Assyrian inscriptions, except in so far as they
bear on the narrative of Scripture. And even here we have to bear in mind that admittedly
the inscriptions designedly give a false impression of what had really occurred in that
war, in which Judaea was overrun and Jerusalem first besieged, and then a second time
summoned to surrender. It will be more convenient to give the story of this expedition, in
the first place, as told in the Assyrian records, before referring to the Biblical account.
We have many inscriptions of the time of Sennacherib, in Assyrian: Sin-ahi- irib, or Sin-
ahi-ir-ba ('Sin,' the lunar god, 'gives many brethren') - famed also for strengthening and
fortifying his capital, Nineveh ('Ninua'), and building there two magnificent palaces, one
on each side of the river. Among the various memorials of his reign four inscriptions are
of special importance.*
- We are here again following Professor Schrader (See Keilinschr. u. d. A. Test. pp. 285-
338, and the Art. Sennacherib in Riehm's Hand-Worterb.
Summarizing their contents, which vary only in details, we infer that, in the fourth year of
Sennacherib's reign, another league had been formed of the principal Philistine and
Phoenician cities of Judah and of the Egypto-Ethiopian empire, for the purpose of
shaking off the domination of Assyria. So far as the first-named cities are concerned it
comprised Sidon, Ascalon, and Ekron, the inhabitants of which city, probably at the
beginning of the war, if not before it, sent Padi, their king, who was faithful to Assyria, in
chains to Hezekiah, who cast him into prison. On the other side, Ammon, Moab, and
Edom, together with a number of the coast-cities in "the west country" -notably, Ashdod
and Gaza - remained faithful to Assyria. Tidings seem to have reached Sennacherib
before the confederates had time to carry their plans into execution. The Assyrian army
rapidly advanced. Elulaeus, king of Sidon, fled to Cyprus, and Ethobal was appointed in
his place, while the cities along the route of the Assyrian conqueror either submitted to
him or were taken. Sennacherib next advanced against Ascalon, and took it. Zidka, its
king, and the royal family, were transported into Assyria; Sarludari, the son of the
previous king, was appointed in his place; the whole country overrun and, like Sidon,
made tributary. It was probably on his march from Acco to Ascalon -perhaps from Jaffa -
that Sennacherib detached a corps into Judah, which took all the "fenced cities" thereof
(comp. 2 Kings 18:13). The Assyrian inscriptions speak of the capture of forty-six
fortified towns and of "innumerable castles and small places," of the transportation of
(^)