(c) Z. Radovan, Jerusalem (ImageSafe protected)
Like the Lachish Relief, Sennacherib's Prism portrays the military exploits of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The three Sennacherib Prisms are some of the most important archaeological finds relating to the Bible. Most importantly, all three were discovered in readable condition.
The Prism text deals primarily with Sennacherib's military campaigns, especially his 701 B.C.E. campaign into Judea. The Prisms attest to the brutality depicted in the throne reliefs found in his royal palace in Nineveh. The cuneiform text of the Prisms boasts of Sennacherib's destruction of Judea and his dealings with Hezekiah, the Judean king. There is a discrepancy however, between the ways Sennacherib recounts the outcome of the siege and how it is set forth in the Bible. The Bible describes how Jerusalem was saved by an angel who attacked the Assyrian army and struck down 180,000 Assyrian soldiers (2 Kings 19:35).
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