B.C.
712-11..Embassy sent by Merodach-
baladan to Hezekiah with the view
of exciting trouble in the west, so
as to divide the forces of Sargon,
who was now threatening an
invasion of Babylonia. The illness
of Hezekiah was only the pretext
for this embassy.
711..Capture of Jerusalem and Ashdod by
Sargon.
705..Sennacherib, Sargon's son, king of
Assyria.
701..Sennacherib's disastrous campaign
against Judah.
697..Death of Hezekiah, and accession of
his son Manasseh. The name of
"Manasseh king of Judah" twice
occurs on the Assyrian monuments.
691..Babylon razed to the ground by
Sennacherib.
681..Sennacherib murdered, and was
succeeded by his son Esarhaddon,
who rebuilt Babylon, and sought
to win over the Babylonians by
residing in it during half the year.
B.C.
676..Manasseh appears among the
Assyrian tributaries.
668..Esarhaddon dies, and is succeeded
by his son Assur-bani-pal
(Sardanapalos).
665..Destruction of Thebes (= "No Amon"
= Ni of the inscriptions) by the
Assyrians. This city was "swept
like a deluge" because Egypt,
under Urduman, son of Tirhakah,
had revolted from Assyria (Nahum
3:8, 10).
609..Josiah of Judah, in the name of his
suzerain, "The king of Assyria,"
opposed the march of Pharaoh. He
was slain in battle (2 Kings
23:29).
606 (?)..Fall of Nineveh, Esarhad-don II.
(Sarakos) being the last king. "The
bloody city" became a heap of
ruins. "The Assyrian empire
vanished from the earth, and its
very existence soon became little
more than a name. The Oriental
ground over which it had
tyrannized became the fighting
ground of three rival powers the
Babylonians, the Egyptians, and
the so called Medes" (Sayce).