The Rise of a Hated Heir
Sennacherib ascended the Assyrian throne in 704 BC under a cloud of familial disdain and widespread rebellion. His father, Sargon II, had openly disparaged him, fostering a perception of weakness among Assyria’s vassals. Provinces from Philistia to Babylon saw his coronation as an opportunity to break free from Assyrian domination. The aging Chaldean warlord Merodach-baladan, a perennial thorn in Assyria’s side, seized the moment to reclaim Babylon, while cities like Ekron and Tyre prepared for revolt.
Yet Sennacherib was no weakling. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah, counseling King Hezekiah of Judah against rebellion, warned that Assyria’s new ruler was no mere “snake” but a “dragon.” This foresight would prove tragically accurate for those who underestimated the king.
The Babylonian Problem
Sennacherib’s reign began with a crisis in Babylon. Unlike his predecessors, he had skipped the sacred ritual of “taking the hand of Marduk,” a grave insult to Babylonian tradition. Within weeks, a local official declared himself king, only to be ousted by Merodach-baladan, who returned from exile with Elamite support. Sennacherib’s initial response—sending a general to quell the uprising—ended in humiliation when Merodach-baladan routed Assyrian forces at Kish.
Enraged, Sennacherib marched south himself. At the Battle of Kish, he shattered the allied forces, sending Merodach-baladan fleeing into the marshes. Babylon surrendered, but Sennacherib’s vengeance was brutal: he sacked the city, deported a quarter-million captives, and ravaged the countryside. Yet the wily Merodach-baladan escaped, setting the stage for decades of conflict.
The Western Campaigns and the Siege of Jerusalem
While Babylon smoldered, rebellion flared in the west. Ekron imprisoned its pro-Assyrian king, Tyre and Sidon revolted, and Judah’s Hezekiah wavered. Sennacherib’s annals boast of swift victories, but the campaign dragged on, revealing unexpected resistance.
The crisis deepened when Egypt’s Kushite general Tirhakah marched north. Hezekiah, emboldened, joined the anti-Assyrian coalition. Sennacherib, besieging Lachish, sent envoys to Jerusalem, delivering a chilling psychological blow: they mocked Judah’s reliance on Egypt as a “splintered reed” and threatened the populace with starvation. Hezekiah capitulated temporarily, sending tribute, but the standoff resumed when Sennacherib turned his army toward Jerusalem.
Then, inexplicably, the siege collapsed. Assyrian records claim victory, yet Jerusalem remained unconquered. Biblical accounts speak of an angel slaying 185,000 Assyrian soldiers; Herodotus mentions a plague of mice gnawing weapons. Modern historians suspect disease—possibly bubonic plague—decimating Sennacherib’s forces.
The Final Reckoning with Babylon
Sennacherib’s later years were consumed by Babylon’s defiance. After installing his son Ashur-nadin-shumi as puppet king, Elamite intrigue led to the prince’s abduction and likely execution. A four-year war with Elam and Babylon followed, culminating in Sennacherib’s infamous razing of Babylon in 689 BC. He flooded the city, desecrated Marduk’s temple, and scattered its dust as a warning—a sacrilege that haunted Assyria’s legacy.
Legacy: A Conqueror Defined by Failure
Sennacherib died in 681 BC, murdered by two of his sons. Though he expanded Assyria’s empire and fortified Nineveh into a magnificent capital, history remembers him for Jerusalem’s survival. Lord Byron’s 1815 poem The Destruction of Sennacherib immortalized this paradox, casting the Assyrian king as a figure of hubris undone by divine will.
His reign underscores a timeless lesson: even the mightiest conquerors are often judged not by their victories, but by their most conspicuous failure.