Conquest of Lachish Depicted on Relief of Sennacherib

700–681 BCE

Relief of rows of archers and soldiers with shields and spears.

Relief of fortified city on hill with soldiers with shields and weapons marching up at diagonal angle on either side of the hill.

Relief of two rows of soldiers marching interspersed with women in head coverings, bulls, naked figures, and people and bundles on wagons.

Relief of figure on throne with procession of people under canopy in front of him.

This relief, from Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh, shows Sennacherib’s army attacking Lachish (an event alluded to in 2 Kings 18:14 and 17). Sennacherib is sitting on his throne outside the city receiving booty and prisoners. The caption on the relief, above the leader of the procession, reads: “Sennacherib, king of the universe, king of Assyria, seated upon an armchair; the spoils of Lachish passed before him.”

Credits

A. H. Layard, from A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh (London: J. Murray, 1853), pl. 20. General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "The Siege of the City of Lachish by Sennacherib." New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4735-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
A. H. Layard, from A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh (London: J. Murray, 1853), pl. 21. General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "The Siege of the City of Lachish by Sennacherib." New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4736-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
A. H. Layard, from A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh (London: J. Murray, 1853), pl. 22. General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "Captives and Spoil from the City of Lachish." New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4737-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
A. H. Layard, from A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh (London: J. Murray, 1853), pl. 23. General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "Sennacherib before the City of Lachish." New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4738-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.