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In 701 BC , an Egyptian -backed rebellion broke out in Judah and was led by Hezekiah . Sennacherib was able to sack many cites in Judah. He laid siege to Jerusalem , but soon returned to Nineveh , with Jerusalem not having been sacked. This famous event was recorded by Sennacherib himself, by Herodotus , and by several Biblical writers. According to the Bible, the siege failed, as ''the angel of now preserved in the British Museum , date from very close to the time. The Assyrian accounts do not treat it as a disaster, but a great victory, not telling about the final outcome - they state that the siege was so successful that Hezekiah was forced to give a monetary tribute, and so the Assyrians left victoriously, without anything even remotely like great losses of thousands of men. Part of this is indeed confirmed in the Biblical account, but it is still debated fiercely by historians. In the Taylor Prism, Sennacherib states that he had shut up ''Hezekiah the Judahite'' within Jerusalem, his own royal city, ''like a caged bird''. SENNACHERIB'S ACCOUNT Sennacherib first recounts several of his previous victories, and how his enemies had become overwhelmed by his presence. He was able to do this to Great Sidon , Little Sidon , Bit-Zitti , Zaribtu , Mahalliba , Ushu , Akzib and Akko . After taking each of these cities, Sennacherib installed a puppet leader named Ethbaal as ruler over the entire region. Sennacherib then turned his attention to Beth-Dagon , Joppa , Banai-Barqa , and Azjuru , cities that were ruled by Sidqia and also fell to Sennacherib. Egypt and Nubia then came to the aid of the stricken cities. Sennacherib defeated the Egyptians and, by his own account, single-handedly captured the Egyptian and Nubian charioteers. Sennacherib captured and sacked several other cities, including Lachish . He punished the "criminal" citizens of the cities, and he reinstalled Padi , their leader, who had been held as a hostage in Jerusalem. After this, Sennacherib turned to King Hezekiah of Judah, who stubbornly refused to submit to him. Forty-six of Hezekiah's cities were conquered by Sennacherib, but Jerusalem did not fall. His own account of this invasion, as given in the Taylor Prism , is as follows: :Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took 46 of his strong fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a countless number. From these places I took and carried off 200,156 persons, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude; and Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape... Then upon Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 Talents Of Gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty... All these things were brought to me at Nineveh , the seat of my government. BIBLICAL ACCOUNT The But the Assyrians nevertheless marched toward Jerusalem. Sennacherib sent his supreme commander with an army to besiege Jerusalem while he himself went to fight with the Egyptians . The supreme commander met with Hezekiah's officials and threatened them to surrender, while hailing insults so the people of the city could hear, blaspheming Judah and particularly their God. When the King Hezekiah heard of this, he tore his clothes (as was the custom of the day for displaying deep anguish) and prayed to God in the Temple . Isaiah the Prophet told the king that God would take care of the whole matter and that he would return to his own lands. That night, the angel of the Lord killed the entire Assyrian camp - 185,000 troops! Sennacherib soon returned to Nineveh in disgrace. Shortly afterwards, while Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch , two of his sons killed him and fled, thus God protected His people and sent judgment upon him who had previously blasphemed God. THE EGYPTIAN DISASTER ACCORDING TO HERODOTUS The Greek historian Herodotus , who wrote his ''Histories'' ca. 440 BC , also speaks of a divinely-appointed disaster destroying an army of Sennacherib in this same campaign while his supreme commander was being defeated in Jerusalem (2:141): when Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched his vast army into Egypt, the warriors one and all refused to come to his IN POPULAR CULTURE Lord Byron 's poem '' The Destruction Of Sennacherib '' ("The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold...") is a retelling of the story contained in ''2 Kings''. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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