Sîn-aḫḫe-eriba

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Cast of a rock relief by Sennacherib at the foot of the Cudi Dağı near Cizre

Sin-ahhe-eriba ( Hebrew Sennacherib , Neo-Assyrian Akkadian Sin-aḫḫe-eriba, Sin-achche-eriba ; * about 745 BC; † January 16,  680 BC ) was the son of Sargon II from 705 to 680 BC Chr. Assyrian king.

Surname

Sennacherib's name means: The god Sin replaced my brothers . It is a so-called substitute name , which expresses that brothers died before his birth, whom God replaces with his birth.

The German form of the name Sanherib is taken from the Hebrew of the Bible. Luther transferred Sennacherib , based on the word form of the Septuagint as Σενναχηριμ ( Sennacherim ).

Life

Sennacherib was married to Naqia and Tašmetu-Šarrat , among others . Naqia was the mother of the heir to the throne Asarhaddon; Sennacherib had the palace gardens built in Nineveh for Tašmetu-Šarrat . Saddītu is attested as a daughter.

3rd campaign

Defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem (based on the Bible), Peter Paul Rubens , 1st half of the 17th century

After he died in 703 BC After suppressing a Babylonian revolt , Sennacherib undertook in 702 BC. His 3rd campaign. First he moved to Hatti (Syria) and on towards Aram or the coast in the region of Sidon . King Luli of Sidon had dared to revolt against the Assyrian rule with some princes from the surrounding area, but fled on arrival from Sennacherib. The rule of Sidon was then transferred to Tabal / Tubal. The kings Abdiliati ( Arwad ), Urumilki ( Byblos ), Mitinti ( Ashdod ), Pudu-ilu ( Bit Ammana ), Kamosh-Nadbi ( Moab ), Joram ( Edom ), Minechem (Samsimuruna) renewed the alliance with Assyria, as did the kings of the land of Amurru . Two rebellious countries had not yet given up the resistance: Askalon and Judah . Previously, Hezekiah had captured King Padi of Ekron , who continued to support the ally Assyria. After the victory over King Sideqa / Zideqa (Ascalon), Hezekiah (Judah) was, according to Sennacherib's statements, " locked up like a bird in a cage in his residence Jerusalem (Ursalimmu)". Jerusalem was not taken, however, and Sennacherib does not say that Hezekiah surrendered.

It was a momentous defeat for the Kingdom of Judah : Members of the royal family, parts of the population and livestock were deported to Assyria. As booty, 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of silver were carried off from Jerusalem to Assyria ( 2 Kings 18.14-15  EU ). In addition, large parts of the land of Judah were given to the city-states of Ashdod , Ekron and Gaza. The Kingdom of Judah only remained in its heartland (region Jerusalem / surrounding area). Padi was reinstated as king in Ekron. In the following period, the supremacy of Assyria was recognized by Hezekiah and tribute payments were made to Nineveh. The war implements mentioned by Assyria have since been discovered during archaeological excavations in the Lachish region . In the Bible (2 Kings 18-19), however, the siege of Jerusalem is portrayed as the defeat of the Assyrians, whose army was devastatingly decimated by an angel.

The biblical report, which is associated with Taharqa's support for Hezekiah , cannot be confirmed, nor can the mouse plague in Herodotus' report or the mention of the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus , who quotes the Babylonian Berossus in this context : As now Senacherib returned to Jerusalem from the train against Egypt, he found that the troops left behind under Rapsakes suffered badly from the plague. On the first night he continued the siege with these troops, the plague killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in his army along with their leaders and captains. Sennacherib won the battle of El-Theke and Tamna, and captured the Egyptian princes and the Nubian charioteers. Herodotus, like Berossus, confused the mouse plague in his story of the Egyptian king name Sethos with Shabataka .

5th campaign

This campaign led Sennacherib in 697 BC. In the cities on Mount Nippur (east of Cizre on the upper Tigris ); then to the city of Ukku in the border area of Urartu , which was destroyed and looted.

6th campaign

696 BC BC Sennacherib carried out his 6th campaign with a logistical masterpiece. With ships built in Nineveh and Til Barsip , he drove downstream to the Persian Gulf in order to surprise Elam in a quick attack .

Destruction of the city of Babylon

689 BC There was a devastating attack on Babylon . The Euphrates was then passed through the city of Babylon. Whether a personal motive for revenge is to be sought behind this punitive action (murder of Sennacherib's son Aššur-nadin-šumi in 694 BC) is controversial.

He captured the fortress of Adumutu and captured Iskallatu , queen of the Arabs .

buildings

Under Sennacherib was Nineveh in the north of Mesopotamia to the capital , he left the city with canals, temples and palaces, one of which on the Tigris and Khosr located southern palace of the Assyrian monuments is the largest, equip. The Englishman Austen Henry Layard has unearthed his "Palace without rivals" ("Palace without equal").

death

On the death of Sennacherib on January 16, 680 BC There are various ancient representations:

  • Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons: "They revolted ... / In order to exercise the rule of kings, they killed Sennacherib" (Prism B, III R15, Col I, line 45f).
  • “On Tebetu 20 , Sennacherib was killed by his son during a rebellion. He ruled Assyria for 24 years. The rebellion continued in Assyria from the 20th Tebetu to the 2nd Addaru . On the 18th of Addaru his son Asarhaddon succeeded the throne. "
  • In the biblical story , Sennacherib was murdered by his sons Adrammelech (= Urdu-Mullissu) and Sarezer; both fled to Urartu after the crime .

It is certain that the eldest son Aššur-nadin-šumi (699–694 BC) was born in 681 BC. BC no longer lived. The second oldest son is known by the name Urdu-Mullissu . The fact that Asarhaddon was involved in the killing cannot be entirely ruled out.

See also

literature

  • Texts from the environment of the Old Testament Volume 1 / Old Series
  • Kurt Galling : Text book on the history of Israel. Tubingen 1950.
  • Dietz Otto Edzard: History of Mesopotamia. CHBeck Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51664-5 .
  • Rykle Borger and Wolfgang Schramm: Introduction to the Assyrian royal inscriptions. 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden 1961 and 1972.
  • Eckhart Frahm: Introduction to the Sanherib inscriptions. Archive for Orient Research Bh. 26, Vienna 1997.
  • Josette Elayi: Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Atlanta 2018 (Archeology and biblical studies; 24) ISBN 978-1-62837-217-5 .

Web links

Commons : Sin-ahhe-eriba  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. according to the list of the Assyrian kings
  2. Stephanie Dalley: Nineveh, Babylon and the Hanging Gardens: cuneiform and classical sources reconciled . Iraq 56, 1994, pp. 45-58 (Eng.)
  3. Texts from the environment of the Old Testament , Volume 1 / Old Series of Sennacherib's 3rd Campaign, p. 391
  4. ^ Kurt Galling : Sennacheribs 3rd Campaign . In: Text book on the history of Israel (TGI) , pp. 67/68
  5. Jewish antiquities , translated by Heinrich Clementz , 10th book, chap. 1, para. 5, p. 602
  6. Hugo Gressmann : Old Oriental Texts on the Old Testament , 1926: Prisma B, III R15, Col I, line 45f: "They revolted ... / In order to exercise the royal rule, they killed [Sennacherib]".
  7. royal chronicle ; see also Kurt Galling : Text book on the history of Israel (TGI) . P. 69
predecessor Office successor
Sarru-kīn II
(Sargon II)
Assyrian king
705–680 BC Chr.
Aššur-aḫḫe-iddina
(Asarhaddon)
Sarru-kīn II
(Sargon II)
King of Babylonia
705–703 BC Chr.
Marduk-zakir-šumi II
(Bel-pichati)
Mušezib-Marduk King of Babylonia
688–680 BC Chr.
Aššur-aḫḫe-iddina
(Asarhaddon)