Special Display: The Assyrian Campaign in Judah as told in the Sennacherib Prism

The Prism of Sennacherib is an important extrabiblical document originating from Nineveh, capital of Assyria. It bears an Akkadian cuneiform inscription dated to 691 BCE, which annalistically recounts the accomplishments of the Assyrian king as conqueror and builder. The complete Hebrew and Arabic translations of the inscription – the first of their kind – were prepared especially for this display.

The inscription recounts the Assyrian campaign in Judah during the reign of Hezekiah (701 BCE) – a historical event also described in the Bible (2 Kings 18–19, Isaiah 36–37, 2 Chronicles 32). In the prism, Jerusalem is the only city clearly associated with Judah and mentioned by name. Sennacherib boasts of having ravaged Judah and subdued its rebellious king, but no explicit Assyrian siege of Jerusalem is mentioned.

Hexagonal prism bearing the annals of Sennacherib, King of Assyria

Inscribed in Akkadian, cuneiform script ǀ Nineveh (Tell Nebi Yunus, Mosul), Assyria (Iraq) ǀ Neo-Assyrian Period, 691 BCE ǀ Baked clay ǀ IMJ 71.72.249 ǀ Gift of Miriam Sacher, London, and Joy Ungerleider, New York, from the Kevorkian Collection

Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Elie Posner