Assyrian conquest of Egypt: Difference between revisions

The [[Egyptians]] and [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushites]] had begun agitating peoples within the [[Assyrian empire]] in an attempt to gain a foothold in the region.<ref name="JE66">{{cite book |last1=Elayi |first1=Josette |title=Sennacherib, King of Assyria |date=2018 |publisher=SBL Press |isbn=978-0-88414-318-5 |pages=66–67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVNtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |language=en}}</ref> As a result, in 701 BCE, [[Hezekiah]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], Lule king of [[Sidon]], Sidka, king of [[Ashkelon|Ascalon]] and the king of [[Ekron]] formed an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. The Neo-Assyrian ruler [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC) attacked the rebels, conquering Ascalon, Sidon and Ekron and defeating the Egyptians and driving them from the region. He marched toward [[Jerusalem]], destroying 46 towns and villages (including the heavily defended city of [[Lachish]]) in his path. This is graphically described in [[Isaiah]] 10; exactly what happened next is unclear (the Bible says an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers at Jerusalem after Hezekiah prayed in the temple).<ref>II Kings 18–19</ref> There are various theories (Taharqa's army,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 127, 129–130, 139–152|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender, Herodotus' mice theory) as to why the Assyrians failed to take Jerusalem and withdrew to Assyria.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 119|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> Sennacherib's account says Judah paid him tribute and he left.<ref name="JE66"/>

 

 

==Invasion of Esarhaddon (673 BCE)==

 

===Second campaign against Tantamani (663 BCE)===

[[File:Tantamani, Louvre Museum reconstruction.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Kushite ruler and [[pharaoh]] of the [[25th Dynasty]] [[Tantamani]], [[Louvre Museum]] reconstruction.]]

Egypt was still seen as vulnerable and [[Tantamani]] invaded Egypt in hopes of restoring his family to the throne. This led to a renewed conflict with [[Ashurbanipal]] in 663 BCE.

*{{Cite journal|last=Ephʿal|first=Israel|date=2005|title=Esarhaddon, Egypt, and Shubria: Politics and Propaganda|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/JCS40025994|journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies|publisher=University of Chicago Press|volume=57|issue=1|pages=99–111|doi=10.1086/JCS40025994|s2cid=156663868 |via=}}

*{{cite book|last=Frahm|first=Eckart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsmDwAAQBAJ|title=A Companion to Assyria|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2017|isbn=978-1-118-32524-7|editor=E. Frahm|location=Hoboken|chapter=The Neo-Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 BCE)}}

*{{Cite journal|last=Radner|first=Karen|date=2003|title=The Trials of Esarhaddon: The Conspiracy of 670 BC|url=https://repositorio.uam.es/handle/10486/3476|journal=ISIMU: Revista sobre Oriente Próximo y Egipto en la antigüedad|publisher=Universidad Autónoma de Madrid|volume=6|pages=165–183|via=}}

*{{Cite journal|last=Radner|first=Karen|date=2012|title=After Eltekeh: Royal Hostages from Egypt at the Assyrian Court|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316233295|journal=Stories of long ago. Festschrift für Michael D. Roaf|publisher=Ugarit-Verlag|volume=|pages=471–479|via=}}

}}

{{Rulers of the Ancient Near East}}