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     Arab Family at Dinner

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SENNACHERIB (705-681 B.C.)

THE STRUGGLE OF SENNACHERIB WITH JUDAEA AND EGYPT—­DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON

The upheaval of the entire Eastern world on the accession of Sennacherib—­Revolt of Babylon:  return of Merodach-baladan and his efforts to form a coalition against Assyria; the battle of Kish (703 B.C.)—­Belibni, King of Babylon (702-699 B.C.)—­Sabaco, King of Egypt, Amenertas and Pionkhi, Shabi-toku—­Tyre and its kings after Ethbaal II.:  Phoenician colonisation in Libya and the foundation of Carthage—­The Kingdom of Tyre in the time of Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon:  Elulai—­Judah and the reforms of Hezekiah; alliance of Judah and Tyre with Egypt, the downfall of the Tyrian kingdom (702 B.C.)—­The battle of Altaku and the siege of Jerusalem:  Sennacherib encamped before Lachish, his Egyptian expedition, the disaster at Pelusium.

Renewed revolt of Babylon and the Tabal (699 B.C.); flight of the people of Bit-Yakin into Elamite territory; Sennacherib’s fleet and descent on Nagitu (697-696 B.C.)—­Khalludush invades Karduniash (695 B.C.); Nirgal-ushezib and Mushesib-marduk at Babylon (693-689 B.C.)—­Sennacherib invades Elam (693 B.C.):  battle of Khalule (692 B.C.), siege and destruction of Babylon (689 B.C.)—­Buildings of Sennacherib at Nineveh:  his palace at Kouyunjik; its decoration with battle, hunting, and building scenes.

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CHAPTER I—­SENNACHERIB (705-681 B.C.)

The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt—­Destruction of Babylon.

Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father’s good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway.

* The two principal documents for the reign of Sennacherib are engraved on cylinders:  the Taylor Cylinder and the Bellino Cylinder, duplicates of which, more or less perfect, exist in the collections of the British Museum.  The Taylor Cylinder, found at Kouyunjik or Usebi-Yunus, contains the history or the first eight years of this reign; the Bellino Cylinder treats of the two first years of the reign.

He lacked the wisdom to conciliate the vanquished, or opportunely to check his own repressive measures; he destroyed towns, massacred entire tribes, and laid whole tracts of country waste, and by failing to repeople