Sennacherib

Sennacherib
Name	Sennacherib
Title	King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
Reign	705 – 681 BC
Predecessor	Sargon II
Successor	Esarhaddon
Father	Sargon II
Mother	Naqi'a
Birth date	c. 745 BC
Death date	681 BC
Death place	Nineveh
Burial place	Possibly Assur

Sennacherib. He was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705 BC until his assassination in 681 BC, succeeding his father Sargon II. Renowned as a formidable military leader and a prolific builder, his reign was marked by extensive campaigns to crush rebellions across the empire and an ambitious reconstruction of his capital, Nineveh. His legacy is complex, shaped by Assyrian records of his engineering feats and by biblical and classical accounts of his failed siege of Jerusalem.

Early life and accession

Sennacherib was born around 745 BC, the son of King Sargon II and likely the queen Naqi'a. His early life and education prepared him for rulership within the sophisticated administrative and military structures of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He ascended to the throne in 705 BC following the dramatic death of his father, who was killed in battle against the Cimmerians in Anatolia. This sudden and inauspicious event, viewed as an ill omen, immediately challenged the new king's authority and prompted widespread revolts across the empire's territories, from Babylonia to the Levant.

Military campaigns

Sennacherib conducted numerous military expeditions to reassert Assyrian dominance. His first major campaign targeted the rebellious Babylonia, where he defeated the Chaldean ruler Merodach-Baladan and captured the city of Babylon in 703 BC. He later launched campaigns against the Kassites and the Elamites who supported Babylonian resistance. In the west, he quelled a large coalition of states including Tyre, Sidon, and Ekron, and famously defeated the forces of Egypt and Kush at the Battle of Eltekeh in 701 BC. His annals meticulously record the subjugation of numerous cities, the collection of vast tribute, and the brutal deportation of populations, standard practices of Assyrian warfare.

Building projects

A defining aspect of his reign was his transformation of Nineveh into a magnificent imperial capital, which he preferred over his father's city of Dur-Sharrukin. He oversaw the construction of a massive city wall, grand palaces including the "Palace Without a Rival," and extensive botanical gardens, which some later traditions associated with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He engineered a sophisticated system of canals and aqueducts, such as the one at Jerwan, to bring water to the city and its surrounding agricultural lands. These projects were celebrated in inscriptions and monumental art, such as the famous Lachish reliefs that decorated his palace.

The siege of Jerusalem

In 701 BC, during his campaign in the Kingdom of Judah, he laid siege to Jerusalem, then ruled by King Hezekiah. The Hebrew Bible provides a vivid account of this event, describing how the Assyrian army surrounded the city but was miraculously struck by a divine plague, forcing a retreat. Sennacherib's own prism, the Taylor Prism, records his campaign against Judah, boasting of shutting up Hezekiah "like a bird in a cage" and capturing many cities like Lachish, but it conspicuously does not claim the capture of Jerusalem itself. The event is also mentioned by the later historian Herodotus.

Family and succession

His principal wife was Tashmetu-sharrat, but the most influential woman in his court was his mother, Naqi'a. Among his many sons, his favored heir was originally Ashur-nadin-shumi, whom he installed as king of Babylon. After his son's capture by the Elamites, he designated a younger son, Esarhaddon, as crown prince, a decision that sparked intense rivalry and conspiracy among his other sons, particularly Arda-Mulissu. This bitter familial conflict over the succession would directly lead to the dramatic end of his life.

Death and legacy

In 681 BC, he was assassinated by one or two of his sons, widely believed to be Arda-Mulissu and Sharezer, while praying in a temple to the god Nisroch in Nineveh. His chosen successor, Esarhaddon, swiftly returned to the capital to crush the usurpers and secure the throne. Sennacherib's legacy is dual-natured: in Assyriology, he is remembered as a great builder and a relentless enforcer of imperial power, while in Judeo-Christian tradition and later works like Lord Byron's poem "The Destruction of Sennacherib," he is immortalized as the archetypal arrogant invader humbled by divine will. His extensive building works at Nineveh were later excavated by archaeologists like Austen Henry Layard.

Category:Neo-Assyrian Empire Category:7th-century BC deaths