We
continue with the revision of the Assyrian Kings list on the time line of
history. Our instruments are the Bible and the works of the Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus. The last article on this blog dates back to 07.10.2019 when we discussed Sargon II
and his new chronological placement on the time line. See link: http://bloggen.be/Robertdetelder/archief.php?ID=3181139
His
son and successor Sennacherib was for a long time co-regent with his father as
will be shown in this week’s article. Just like with Sargon II his son Sennacherib
is also mentioned by name in the Bible.
2 Kings 18:9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which
was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king
of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three
years they took it: even in the sixth
year of Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel,
Samaria was taken. 11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto
Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the
cities of the Medes: 12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their
God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. 13 Now in the fourteenth
year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib
king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took
them. (King James Version)
© Robert De Telder, Dertig Jubeljaren, 2018, page 266
The above mentioned Bible quotation was considered by
the theologian Edwin R. Thiele in
his book ‘The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings’, 1951, as artificially
added to the Bible and this statement was made shameless. Thiele considered the
Assyrian kings list and its placement on the time line superior to the Biblical
chronology and its bearing points on the timeline of history. The result was
that he presented in his book a revised chronology for the kings of Israel and
Judah whereby he shortened their reigns totaling up to 40 years. The fact that
he was unable to fit the chronological link mentioned in 2 Kings 18:9-13 between Hezekiah and Sennacherib made him make such
a foolish claim implying that this part of Scripture was not inspired. Thiele
‘s revision of the chronology of the Hebrew kings became nevertheless widely
accepted by scholars and is unfortunately even used by many revisionists of
ancient history. The Bible Book 2 Kings 18:9-13 however is very clear on the
subject and cannot be interpreted otherwise. The fall of Samaria by Shalmaneser V happened in the sixth year of reign of Hezekiah
being 717 BC based on Biblical chronology. And in the fourteenth year of reign of King Hezekiah, eighth years later, did Sennacherib king of Assyria laid siege to
Jerusalem but was defeated. The fall of Samaria is firmly fixed on the timeline
of history in 717 BC based on Josephus and the Bible. In the article of 16.09.2019 on this blog I quoted Flavius
Josephus, Antiquities, Chapter X, ix.7b stating that the exile of the ten
tribes of Israel happened exactly 136
years, six months and ten days prior to the exile of the two tribes in July
586 BC which leads us to the year 717 BC for the fall of
Samaria and the exile of the ten tribes. See link: http://bloggen.be/Robertdetelder/archief.php?ID=3177041
A cross bearing that leads us also to 717 BC as an
anchor point on the time line of history are the Jubilee years. The fourteenth
year of reign of Hezekiah was the Sabbath year that preceded the 15th Jubilee year of Oct
709/Sep 708 BC. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah who approached
Hezekiah at that time with a Word of the LORD God making clear that we have a
Sabbath year followed by a Jubilee year:
Isaiah 37:30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year
(April 710/March 709 BC) such as groweth of itself; and the second year (April
709/March 708 BC) that which springeth of the same: and in the third year
(October 709/September 708 BC) sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat
the fruit thereof. (KJV)
In
my book ‘Thirty Jubilees’ published in Dutch in 2018 I used the Jubilee years
to determine the chronological order of the period of reigns of the kings of
Judah between the 37th year of Babylonian captivity of King Jojachin
(2 Kings 25:27) which was the 18th Jubilee, and the fourteenth year
of reign of Hezekiah. The fourteenth year of Hezekiah and the siege of
Jerusalem by Sennacherib is firmly fixed to 709 BC.
The
siege of Jerusalem is mentioned on a prism stele of Sennacherib as his third
campaign without mentioning a specific year of reign. Clearly the man was a
co-regent of Sargon II at the time. The Bible during this period refers to the
kings of Assyria in plural (2 Kings 18:13 and 2 Chronicles 32:1-4). Hereafter
follows the relevant part as found on the prism stele of Sennacherib:
“18 As for Hezekiah
the Judahite, 19 who did not submit to my yoke: forty-six of his strong,
walled cities, as well as 20 the small towns in their area, 21 which were
without number, by levelling with battering-rams 22 and by bringing up
seige-engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, 23 by mines, tunnels, and
breeches, I besieged and took them. 24 200,150 people, great and small, male
and female, 25 horses, mules, asses, camels, 26 cattle and sheep without
number, I brought away from them 27 and counted as spoil. (Hezekiah) himself, like a caged bird 28 I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city.
29 I threw up earthworks against him— 30the one coming out of the city-gate, I
turned back to his misery. 31 His cities, which I had despoiled, I cut off from
his land, and 32 to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, 33 Padi, king of Ekron, and
Silli-bêl, 34 king of Gaza, I gave (them). And thus I diminished his land. 35 I
added to the former tribute, 36 and I lad upon him the surrender of their land
and imposts—gifts for my majesty. 37 As for Hezekiah, 38 the terrifying
splendor of my majesty overcame him, and 39 the Arabs and his mercenary
troops which he had brought in to strengthen 40 Jerusalem, his royal city, 41
deserted him. In addition to the thirty talents of gold and 42 eight hundred
talents of silver, gems, antimony, 43 jewels, large carnelians, ivory-inlaid
couches, 44 ivory-inlaid chairs, elephant hides, elephant tusks, 45 ebony,
boxwood, all kinds of valuable treasures, 46 as well as his daughters, his
harem, his male and female 47 musicians, which he had brought after me 48 to
Nineveh, my royal city. To pay tribute 49 and to accept servitude, he
dispatched his messengers.”
(Prism-stele kolom 2)
Should
we have only the prism stele today as a witness in our possession one could
argue that the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib was successful. The historical
truth learns different. According to the Bible the army of Sennacherib
besieging Jerusalem was devastated by an angel of the LORD God with 185.000
soldiers killed in one blow.
2 Kings 19:32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came,
by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my
servant David's sake. 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and
smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and
when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So
Sennacherib king of Assyria departed,
and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
The
defeat of Sennacherib at the gates of Jerusalem in 709 BC is also mentioned by
the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus:
"Now
when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his
army under Rabshakeh his general in danger [by a plague], for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army;
and on the very first night of the
siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand, with their captains and
generals, were destroyed. So the king was in a great dread and in a terrible
agony at this calamity; and being in great fear for his whole army, he fled
with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom, and to his city Nineveh; and
when he had abode there a little while, he was treacherously assaulted, and
died by the hands of his elder sons, Adrammelech and Seraser, and was slain in
his own temple, which was called Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away
on account of the murder of their father by the citizens, and went into
Armenia, while Assarachoddas took the kingdom of Sennacherib." And this
proved to be the conclusion of this Assyrian expedition against the people of
Jerusalem. (Flavius Josephus, Jewish
Antiquities, Book X, 1. 5.)
The
defeat of Sennacherib is furthermore mentioned in the Jewish Legends compiled
by Louis Ginzberg, Book IX:
“…… With this vast army Sennacherib hastened
onward, in accordance with the
disclosures of the astrologers, who warned him that he would fail in his
object of capturing Jerusalem, if he
arrived there later than the day set by them. His journey having lasted but
one day instead of ten, as he had expected, he rested at Nob. A raised platform
was there erected for Sennacherib, whence he could view Jerusalem. On first
beholding the Judean capital, the Assyrian king exclaimed: "What! Is this
Jerusalem, the city for whose sake I gathered together my whole army, for whose
sake I first conquered all other lands? Is it not smaller and weaker than all
the cities of the nations I subdued with my strong hand?" He stretched
himself and shook his head, and waved his hand contemptuously toward the Temple
mount and the sanctuary crowning it. When his warriors urged him to make his
attack upon Jerusalem, he bade them take their ease for one night, and be
prepared to storm the city the next day. It seemed no great undertaking. Each
warrior would but have to pick up as much mortar from the wall as is needed to
seal a letter and the whole city would disappear. But Sennacherib made the
mistake of not proceeding directly to the attack upon the city. If he had made
the assault at once, it would have been successful, for the sin of Saul against
the priest at Nob had not yet been wholly expiated; on that very day it was
fully atoned for. In the following night, which
was the Passover night, when Hezekiah and the people began to sing the
Hallel Psalms, the giant host was annihilated….
…. A number of miracles besides were connected with the recovery of Hezekiah.
In itself it was remarkable, as being the first case of a recovery on record.
Previously illness had been inevitably followed by death. Before he had fallen
sick, Hezekiah himself had implored God to change this order of nature. He held
that sickness followed by restoration to health would induce men to do penance.
God had replied: "Thou art right, and the new order shall be begun with
thee." Furthermore, the day of
Hezekiah's recovery was marked by the great miracle that the sun shone ten
hours longer than its wonted time. The remotest lands were amazed thereat,
and Baladan, the ruler of Babylon, was prompted by it to send an embassy to
Hezekiah, which was to carry his felicitations to the Jewish king upon his
recovery….
…..In
view of all the wonders God had done for him, it was unpardonable that Hezekiah
did not feel himself prompted at least to sing a song of praise to God. Indeed,
when the prophet Isaiah urged him to it, he refused, saying that the study of
the Torah, to which he devoted himself with assiduous zeal, was a substitute
for direct expressions of gratitude. Besides, he thought God's miracles would
become known to the world without action on his part, in such ways as these: After the destruction of the Assyrian army,
when the Jews searched the abandoned camps, they found Pharaoh the king of Egypt and the Ethiopian king Tirhakah. These
kings had hastened to the aid of Hezekiah, and the Assyrians had taken them
captive and clapped them in irons, in which they were languishing when the Jews
came upon them. Liberated by Hezekiah, the two rulers returned to their
respective realms, spreading the report of the greatness of God everywhere. And
again, all the vassal troops in Sennacherib's army, set free by Hezekiah,
accepted the Jewish faith, and on their way home they proclaimed the kingdom of
God in Egypt and in many other lands.” The Legends of the Jews, Book IX,
The
capturing of the Egyptian Pharaoh is also mentioned on the prism stele of
Sennacherib:
“…. The officials,
nobles, and people of Ekron, who had thrown Padi their king—bound by oath and
curse of Assyria— into fetters of iron and had given him over to Hezekiah, the Judahite—he kept him in
confinement like an enemy— their heart became afraid, and they called upon the Egyptian kings, the bowmen,
chariots and horses of the king of Meluhha [Ethiopia], a countless host, and
these came to their aid. In the neighborhood of Eltekeh, their ranks being drawn up before me, they offered battle.
With the aid of Assur, my lord, I fought with them and brought about their
defeat. The Egyptian charioteers and princes, together with the Ethiopian
king's charioteers, my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle.
Eltekeh and Timnah I besieged, I captured, and I took away their spoil.
…(Prism-stele Sennacherib)
The
above mentioned battle between the Egyptian army and the Assyrians is also
mentioned by Herodotus Book 2:141:
After him there
came to the throne the priest of Hephaistos, whose name was Sethos. This man, they said, neglected
and held in no regard the warrior class of the Egyptians, considering that he
would have no need of them; and besides other slights which he put upon them,
he also took from them the yokes of corn-land which had been given to them as a
special gift in the reigns of the former kings, twelve yokes to each man. After
this, Sanacharib king of the Arabians
and of the Assyrians marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors
of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue, and the priest, being driven
into a strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the
image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was thus
lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god
came and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil
if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians; for he himself would send him
helpers. Trusting in these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they said,
those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion came:
and not one of the warrior class followed him, but shop-keepers and artisans
and men of the market. Then after they came, there swarmed by night upon their
enemies mice of the fields, and ate
up their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields, so
that on the next day they fled, and being without defense of arms great numbers
fell. And at the present time this king
stands in the temple of Hephaistos in stone, holding upon his hand a mouse, and by letters inscribed he says
these words: "Let him who looks upon me learn to fear the gods."
The
pharaoh to which Herodotus refers with the Greek name Sethos must be the same
as the Biblical So and those two are identical with the Assyrian name Sebech as
king of Egypt during that time.
The
brutal end of Sennacherib‘s live we read in verse 37 of the above mentioned
Bible quotation. His successor was the crown prince and son
Essarhaddon.
2 Kings 19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of
Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the
sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. (KJV)
The
year of the assassination was 680 BC. The Ptolemy-canon has Essarhaddon become
king over Babylon in 08.02.680 BC.
The
first year of reign of Sennacherib by the orthodox Assyriology is 705 BC. There
is a way however to calculate the first year of (co)reign of Sennacherib. There
exists a preserved statement of Sennacherib (Assyrian Kings from Adasi to Assur
Dan II - synthesized from Synchronistic Chronicle, Meissmer’s list, and
corrected to the Khorsabad List - as quoted by Courville), that says that there
were 418 years between his period of rule and the one of Tiglath Pileser I. The
revised period of reign of Tiglath Pileser I has him reigning from 1134 till
1096 BC (De Assyriologie herzien, 2012, page 104-113). When we apply the time
period of 418 years from 1134 BC the result is 716 BC for the first year of
co-reign of Sennacherib. It is the same year that Shalmaneser V was besieging
Tyrus and Sargon II was campaigning against Mannea. The Assyrian empire was
ruled by a triumvirate at the time.
Probably
Sennacherib was campaigning against Merodach Baladan in Babylon during the same
year 716 BC. With his comments regarding his third campaign against Jerusalem
in mind we may doubt the correctness of his statement:
“20 In my first
campaign I accomplished the defeat of Merodach-baladan, 21 king of Babylonia,
together with the army of Elam, 22 his ally, on the plain of Kish. 23In the
midst of that battle he deserted his camp, 24 and he escaped alone, so he saved
his own life. 25 The chariots, horses, wagons, mules, 26 which he left behind
at the beginning of the battle 27 my hands seized. Into his palace, which is in
28 Babylon, I entered jubilantly. 29 I opened his treasure-house: gold, silver,
vessels of god and silver, 30 precious stones of every name, goods and property
31without limit, heavy tribute, his harem, 32 courtiers and officials,
singers—male and 33 female—all his artisans, 34 as many as there were, his
palace servants 35 I brought out, and I counted as spoil. In the might of Assur
36 my lord, seventy-five of his strong walled cities 37 of Chaldea, and 420
small cities 38 of their area I surrounded, I conquered, I carried off their
spoil. 39 The Arabs, Arameans, and Chaldeans 40 who were in Erech, Nippur,
Kish, Harsagkalamma, 41 Kutha and Sippar, together with the citizens, 42 the
rebels I brought out and counted as booty…..”
Babylon
was not taken until 709 BC by Sargon II and the comments made by Sennacherib on
his prism stele are nothing else than magniloquence. The second campaign of
Sennacherib that is mentioned on the prism stele is the one to the land of the
Kassites. This campaign is to be dated between the years 715 BC and 710 BC.
“65 In my
second campaign, Assur, my lord, encouraged me, and 66 against the land of
the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallai, 67 who from of old had not been
submissive to the kings, my ancestors, 68 I marched. In the midst of the high
mountains 69 I rode on horseback where the terrain was difficult, 70 and had my
chariot drawn up with ropes: 71 where it became too steep, I clambered up on
foot like the wild-ox. 72 The cities of Bît-Kilamzah, Hardishpi, 73and
Bît-Kubatti, their strong, walled cities 74 I besieged, I captured. People,
horses, 75 mules, asses, cattle, and sheep 76 I brought out from their midst
and counted as booty. 77 And their small cities, which were beyond numbering,
78 I destroyed, I devastated, and I turned into ruins. The houses of the
steppe, (namely) the tents, 79 in which they lived, I set on fire and 80 turned
them into flames. I turned round, and 81 made that Bît-Kilamzah into a
fortress— 82 I made its walls stronger than they had ever been before—….”
No
other historical source of his second campaign is available. We can only assume
that a campaign took place which was carried out with disproportionate cruelty
in the name of the gods of Assur. The prism stele refers to a total of eight
campaigns and closes with the description of the building Sennacherib’s palace
in Nineveh. Placing all eight campaigns on the time line of history is
difficult and leaves a lot of questions.
The
eponym list that follows has not all the answers to fill the apparent time gap
there exist in list. The reader should notice the damages that occurred in the
text and the many brackets used by Assyriology’s to clarify their viewpoint.
The
Bible in 2 Kings 18:9-13 narrows the time span between the fall of Samaria in
the 6th year of reign of Hezekiah and the siege of Jerusalem in the
14th year of reign of Hezekiah to only eight years. Assyriology in
contradiction has 21 years between the fall of Samaria by Sargon II and the
siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. A difference of 13 years. The only way to
solve this anomaly created by Assyriology is to accept that co-regencies took
place between Shalmaneser V, Sargon II and Sennacherib. I repeat the Bible
refers to the kings of Assyria in the plural form during this time
period.
2 Chronicles 32:1 After these things, and the
establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into
Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for
himself. 2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was
purposed to fight against Jerusalem, 3 He took counsel with his princes and his
mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and
they did help him. 4 So there was gathered much people together, who stopped
all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land,
saying, Why should the kings of
Assyria come, and find much water? (KJV)
© Robert De Telder, Dertig Jubeljaren, 2018, page 267
The
article regarding the period of reign of Sargon II and its revision closed with
the Eponym of 706/705 BC.
[706/705]During the eponomy of Mutakkil-A¹¹ur, the
governor of Guzana, the king stayed in
the land; the nobles were in Karalla; in Ajaru, the sixth, Dur-©arruken was
completed; [...] received.
The
next Eponym of 705/704 BC refers according to Assyriology to the first year of
Sennacherib.
[705/704]During
the eponomy of Nashru-B�l, the governor of Amedi, the king marched on Tabal; against Gurdi, the
Kulummaean, [...] the king was killed; the camp of the king of Assyria [...] In
Abu, the twelfth, Sennacherib, the king [started
his reign?].
The
missing part after ‘Sennacherib, the king’ is filled in by orthodox Assyriology
by: started his reign ? with a question mark. It remains indeed by guessing.
[704/703]During
the eponomy of Nab�-deni-epu¹, the governor of Nineveh, to Larak and
Sarrabanu; the palace of Kalizi was restored, in [...] the nobles against the
Kulummaean.
[703/702]
During the eponomy of Nuh¹aya, the governor of Kalizi, campaign against [Babylonia?].
[702/701]
During the eponomy of Nab�-le'i, the governor of Arbela, campaign against [Hirimma and Hararatum?].
[701/700]
During the eponomy of Hananu, the governor of Til-Barsip, [...] from Halzi
[...]
[700/699]
During the eponomy of Metunu, the governor of Isana, A¹¹ur-nadin-¹umi, the son
of Sennacherib, [became king of Babylonia?] of the palace, in the city [...],
great cedar logs, alabaster in Ammananum [...], in Kapri-Dagili [...] for [...]
the king [...].
[699/698]
During the eponymy of B�l-¹arrani, governor of Kurba'il,
Broken off
On
top of all the confusing and contradicting preserved Assyrian sources the
eponym list is broken off after the year 698 BC. The preserved yearly eponym
list are not complete but damaged. Campaigns are referred to with the target missing.
It is impossible this way to fill in the campaigns of Sennacherib after his
third against Jerusalem. They should find there place on the time line of
history somewhere between 708 BC and 680 BC.
To
be continued…
Robert
De Telder
Recent
publications (Dutch):
see link: https://boekentips.com/auteur/2508383/robert-de-telder
