A Staggering Archaelogical Discovery: The Mighty Assyrian Empire Emerges From the Dust
Ranked among the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time is the unearthing
of the ancient Assyrian Empire.
Assyria first appeared as an empire early in the second millennium B.C.
The remains of a ziggurat, or temple tower, from that era still stand near
the site of its ancient capital.
In the ninth century B.C., Assyria developed into an aggressive and powerful
empire. By this time, about 40 years after the reign of Solomon, Israel
had split into two distinct kingdoms-Israel and Judah (1 Kings 12:16-24).
Led by able and ruthless monarchs, the Assyrians began to menace and conquer
their neighbors. They eventually subjugated the whole of the Fertile Crescent
from Mesopotamia to Egypt. By the late eighth century they crushed the
kingdom of Israel.
About this same time they also invaded the southern kingdom of Judah,
conquering its major cities and besieging its capital, Jerusalem (Isaiah 36:1-2). The Bible records the boastful words of the arrogant Assyrian
monarch, Sennacherib, as he tried to intimidate and humiliate Hezekiah,
king of Judah (Isaiah 36:4-10).
Did the biblical stories involving this empire really happen, or are
they fables? Remember, many scoffers at one time disputed even the very
existence of the Assyrian Empire. But it was no myth. As the debris of
centuries was removed from Nineveh, one of the empire's capitals, dramatic
proof of the Assyrian invasion was laid bare.
Assyrian records of these events quote King Sennacherib of Assyria boasting
of his devastating invasion of Judah: "Forty-six of [Hezekiah's] strong
walled towns and innumerable smaller villages...I besieged and conquered...As
for Hezekiah, the awful splendor of my lordship overwhelmed him" (Erika
Bleibtreu, "Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death," Biblical
Archaeology Review, January-February 1991, p. 60). Sennacherib noted
that he had made Hezekiah "a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence,
like a bird in a cage" (Magnus Magnusson, Archaeology and the Bible, 1977,
p. 186).
