Sennacherib

Definition

by British Museum published on 03 August 2011

Sennacherib, king of Assyria (704-681 BC), whose name (Sin-ahhe-criba) means 'the god Sin has replaced the brothers', came to the throne of Assyria in 704 BC. The new king shifted the capital from Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad) to the ancient city of Nineveh, which he rebuilt in unparalleled splendour. This great palace, which Sennacherib describes in his inscriptions as 'without rival', is known today as the South-West Palace. Many rooms were decorated with alabaster wall reliefs.

Sennacherib was mainly preoccupied with trying to resolve the political situation in Babylonia, a region that had only recently been retaken by his father Sargon II. Sennacherib's main opponent was a local leader called Marduk-apla-iddina II (the biblical Merodach-baladan) who was supported by Elam. From 703-689 BC Sennacherib fought to control south Mesopotamia until finally, after a fifteen-month siege, the city of Babylon was captured and sacked. In 701 BC Sennacherib sacked the city of Lachish in Judah but failed to take the capital Jerusalem. His other campaigns in the southern Levant, Anatolia, and in the Syrian desert against the Arabs, were concerned with frontier security. In 681 BC Sennacherib was assassinated by two of his sons while he prayed in a temple. He was succeeded by another son, Esarhaddon.

© Trustees of the British Museum. Republished under the British Museum Standard Terms of Use for non-profit educational purposes.

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Illustrations

Sennacherib Books

• The Atlas of Lost Cities: Legendary Cities Rediscovered Brenda Rosen Godsfield (04 March 2008) Currently unavailable

• Lost Treasures of the Bible: Understanding the Bible through Archaeological Artifacts... Clyde E. Fant Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (15 October 2008) Price: $17.90

• The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian... Professor D. T. Potts Cambridge University Press (13 August 1999) Price: $58.39

• The Conquest of Assyria: Excavations in an Antique Land Mogens Trolle Larsen Routledge (16 October 1996) Price: $127.44

• Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History Marc Van De Mieroop Routledge (10 July 1999) Price: $33.20