Since Sennacherib's reign ended in the early days of January in 710 BCE according to the Julian calendar, it may have begun in 734 BCE. in the early months or 735 BCE. in the last months. This ascension of him to the kingship at that time was evidently at the behest of his father. In 729 BCE, in the month of Ab, around the middle of August,1-3 he officially received the entire kingdom of Assyria.
Military campaigns
Sennacherib told about his military campaigns in his writings (Annals of Sennacherib). He does not say how many years his reign was in progress during each campaign.
His first campaign was against Babylonia and its king, Marduk-Apla-Iddina II. 1-4 This was the same battle that Sargon II tells of in the 12th year of his reign. 1-5 This was also Marduk-Apla-Iddina's 12th regnal year.
It seems that this battle did not progress to a decisive stage until around the beginning of February in 733 BCE. (Based on the ABC1 Chronicle, this may have been the 1st year of Sennacherib's reign1-6). The last found Babylonian business document from the reign of Marduk-Apla-Iddina is dated to the 11th month of his 12th year.1-7 After this, Bel-Ibni, apparently installed by Sennacherib, became king in Babylon. It may be interesting to note that the first business document of his accession year is also dated to the 11th month.1-8 From the ABC1 Chronicle it can be concluded that after this, when the situation in the area of the city of Babylon had calmed down, Sennacherib continued to fight against Marduk-Apla-Iddina and tried to find him in the land of Elam, but did not find him.
Sennacherib's second campaign was a smaller battle, apparently also dated to 733 BCE.
His third campaign, on the other hand, was more notable, it was directed against Judah. The most significant events of this battle are told in the Bible. It lasted for several months in 732-731 BCE. Reliefs that had decorated the walls of Sennacherib's palace have been found in Nineveh. These reliefs depicted the conquest of the city of Lachish in the territory of Judah. 1-9 This battle took its own time. At some point after this, Sennacherib moved to besiege Jerusalem. Some researchers believe that the remains of an ancient military camp recently found near Jerusalem are the military camp of Assyrian soldiers led by Sennacherib, which the Bible tells about.1-10 On the other hand, it should be taken into account that later Babylonian armies were also camped somewhere near Jerusalem when they besieged Jerusalem for several years.1- 11
The Bible tells us that Sennacherib had to stop his attack on Judah when the Egyptian king Tirhakah or Taharqa invaded the country. The Bible appoints him as the king of Ethiopia. 1-12 Sennacherib also indirectly mentions this event and claims that the Egyptians were called to help on Hezekiah's initiative. 1-13 There is no basis for this claim of Sennacherib in the Bible.
After Sennacherib had fought against the Egyptians for a while, he returned to fight against Jerusalem.
It seems that Sennacherib's intention was to conquer Jerusalem one way or another. He initially tried a peaceful solution, but Hezekiah refused to surrender. Sennacherib says that he had dealings with Hezekiah, but does not say why he did not conquer Jerusalem. 1-14
Sennacherib's fourth campaign was again directed against Babylonia. There Marduk-Apla-Iddina II had become king again.1-15 This was apparently a reign in which he ruled for about 9 months. This battle of Sennacherib was apparently fought in the late summer of 730 BCE.
The following information leads to this conclusion. After this battle, Sennacherib installed his son Assur-nadin-sum as king of Babylon. The first Babylonian business document dating to his reign is dated to the 8th month of his accession year.1-16 This corresponds to November. It was apparently the year 730 BCE. Among his predecessors, the latest business document for Bel-Ibn's reign can be found for the 1st month of the 3rd regnal year, i.e. April 731 BCE.1-16 Researchers have estimated the length of Bel-Ibn's reign as 2 or 3 years. It seems that he ruled for about 2.5 years. Bel-Ibn was succeeded by Marduk-zakir-sumi II, who is estimated to have ruled for a few months. This leads to the assumption that Marduk-Apla-Iddina II became king again in the late autumn of 731 BCE. and ruled until the summer of 730 BCE. until.
During later campaigns, Sennacherib fought battles against the Babylonian king Nergal-ushezib, who succeeded his son Ashur-nadin-sum as king.1-17 This battle took place around 723 BCE.
For example, Sennacherib fought against the Elamite kings Kutur-Nahhunte or Kutir-Nahhunte and Humban-nimena III.1-18 This latter battle may have been dated to 719 BCE, close to the time when Sennacherib himself became king of Babylon and held that position for over 8 years between 719-710 BCE. On the other hand, if the Humban-nimena fell seriously ill already in the month of Nisannu, as could be concluded from the ABC1 Chronicle, she did not necessarily personally participate in the battle.
Lunar eclipse
An ancient letter has been found in Sennacherib's palace, which tells about a lunar eclipse.1-19 This was written by Abil-Istar, who apparently acted as the king's astrologer. Since this was found in Sennacherib's palace, it is reasonable to assume that the lunar eclipse in question occurred during Sennacherib's reign.
Abil-Istar says that this lunar eclipse took place 'over Syria'. It can be concluded that it happened in the morning.
Two lunar eclipses are suitable for this. The first of them happened in September 721 BCE. and another at the beginning of May in 714 BCE.
References:
1-1 pekkamansikka.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-date-of-sennacheribs-is-found.html
1-2 www.livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/abc-1-from-nabu-nasir-to-samas-suma-ukin/abc-1.iii/
1-3 www.livius.org/articles/concept/limmu/limmu-list-858-699-bce/
1-4 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876 p.59
1-5 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876 pp.40,41
1-6
1-7 J. A. Brinkman ja D. A. Kennedy: ’Documentary Evidence for the Economic Base of Early Neo-Babylonian Society: A Survey of Dated Babylonian Economic Texts, 721-626 B.C.’ p. 11
1-8 J. A. Brinkman ja D. A. Kennedy: ’Documentary Evidence for the Economic Base of Early Neo-Babylonian Society: A Survey of Dated Babylonian Economic Texts, 721-626 B.C.’ p. 14
1-9 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachish_reliefs
1-11 Bible, 2. Kings 25:1,2
1-12 Bible, 2. Kings 19:9
1-13 www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/sennprism4.html Column 2
1-14 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876 pp.61, 62
1-15 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876 p. 63
1-16 J. A. Brinkman ja D. A. Kennedy: ’Documentary Evidence for the Economic Base of Early Neo-Babylonian Society: A Survey of Dated Babylonian Economic Texts, 721-626 B.C.’ p. 15
1-17 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nergal-ushezib
1-18 www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/sennprism4.html Column 5 and 6
1-19 George Smith: Assyrian discoveries pp. 408-9
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