"So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
" - 2 Kings 17:23
Accompanied by their sheep, and with
their belongings slung over their shoulders, captives are being driven
out of Ashtaroth, a town to the east of the lake of Galilee, by Assyrian
warriors.
" Woe to them [that are] at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, [which are] named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
" - Amos 6:1
The Assyrians "besieged it three
years" (II Kings 17:5) before its resistance was finally
broken. Samaria fell in 721 B.C. This relief from Nineveh,
depicting the Assyrians taking a city, shows the inhabitants being
driven off into exile while the battle for the city is still in its last
stages. A similar fate befell the people of Samaria.
Inhabitants and their sheep being driven
out of a captured city by Assyrian warriors. The city: Astartu?,
possibly Ashtaroth of the Bible, is situated like Samaria on top of a
hill and is surrounded by a double wall with prominent towers.
Both the walls and the towers are crenellated. Gypsum relief from
Nimrud. time of Tiglath-Pileser III, 8th century B.C. Height 3.5 feet.
British Museum.
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Capture of Astartu & king in his chariot, around 730-727 BC, Nimrud South west Palace
The city of Astartu (located in modern Jordan) is captured by King Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC). The population and flocks are being deported into exile. The relief was moved from the central palace and re-used by king Esarhaddon (680-669 BC). Tiglath-pileser III is named Pul in the Bible, and is mentioned in (2Ki 15:19 and 1Chr 5:26).
Capture of Astartu & king in his chariot, around 730-727 BC, Nimrud South west Palace This is a close-up of the top section of the bas relief in the previous photo. It shows the city being looted.
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Relief of Rows of Archers from the Siege of Lachish, gypsum, time of Sennacherib, Room XXXVI, Southwest Palace, Nineveh, Neo-Assyrian Period, 701-681 BCE
From the Neo-Assyrian Period, 1000 BCE - 612 BCE
Found in Nineveh
The siege of the city of Lachish occupied the relief program of an entire room in the Southwest palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh. Reliefs of the approaching army, the siege and eventual taking of the city, as well as the terrible fate of the survivors as deportees, lined the 4 walls of Lachish room, the entry guarded by a pair of winged bull colossi. The detail above depicts the terrifying sight of Assyrian archers advancing towards the city of Lachish in seemingly endless rows.
Relief of Siege Machines Attacking Lachish, gypsum, from time of Sennacherib, Nineveh, Neo-Assyrian Period, 701-681 BCE
From the Neo-Assyrian Period, 1000 BCE - 612 BCE
Found in Nineveh
Covered in lecture on Apr 20th, 2005
The siege of the city of Lachish occupied the relief program of an entire room in the Southwest palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh. Reliefs of the approaching army, the siege and eventual taking of the city, as well as the terrible fate of the survivors as deportees, lined the 4 walls of Lachish room, the entry guarded by a pair of winged bull colossi. Above is depicted the horrific siege and destruction of the city with siege machines, a manpowered battering ram which destroyed the mudbrick city walls. The Assyrians are seen climbing the siege ramp which was constructed to enable the siege machines access to the walls of Lachish.
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