MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS Department of Archaeology and Museology Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Bachelor’s diploma thesis 2016 Ján Marko Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Ján Marko Siege of Lachish Bachelor’s diploma thesis Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc Brno 2016 DECLARATION I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. I agree with storing this work in the library of the Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East at the Masaryk University in Brno and making it accessible for study purposes. Brno 30th of November 2016 ........................................................ Signature ABSTRACT Title: Siege of Lachish Author: Ján Marko Department/Institute: Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology and Museology, Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Supervisor of the Bachelor thesis: doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc Abstract: The study investigates the Assyrian onslaught on the Judean city of Lachish, in 701 B.C. The thesis puts emphasis on the question of Sennacherib’s second military campaign against the West, as suggested by primary historical and archaeological sources. The comparison of the Bible, Assyrian annals, Lachish reliefs, archaeological excavations and the stelae from Kawa sheds light on the recent research. However, the discrepancies between these sources are a matter of debate within the scholar circles. The present work offers a view on the given issue, compiling and confronting various scholarly opinions. Keywords: Assyrian Empire, Sennacherib, military campaign against Syro-Palestine, siege, comparison between historical and archaeological sources ANOTACE Název práce: Obléhání Lakíše Autor: Ján Marko Katedra/Ústav: Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Ustav archeologie a muzeologie, Odděleni pravěké archeologie Předního východu Vedoucí bakalářské práce: doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc Abstrakt: Předložená práce se zabývá asyrským útokem na judské město Lakíš v roce 701 před Kristem. Hlavním cílem bylo porovnat mnoho parametrů, na základě kterých by bylo možné blíže určit, zda asyrský král Sancheríb podnikl jednu, nebo dvě výpravy do oblasti Syro-Palestiny. Primárními zdroji zde jsou historické prameny, za které považujeme Bibli a Sancheríbovy anály. K objasnění problematiky přispěl archeologický výzkum lokality obléhaného města, nalezené reliéfy ze starověkého Ninive zobrazující zmiňované obléhání a Taharqova stéla z Kawi objevená v dnešním Sudánu. Kompilace jednotlivých vědeckých názorů v diskuzi měla za cíl poskytnout náhled do problematiky a konfrontovat rozdíly mezi jednotlivými prameny. Klíčová slova: Asyrská říše, Sancheríb, vojenské tažení proti Syro-Palestině, obléhaní, Chizkijáš, porovnání historických a archeologických pramenů ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc, who helped me and guided me during a very long time and I am particularly thankful for her patience and for her inspiring suggestions. My appreciation further belongs to people working in the department of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East for useful information, namely Mgr. Inna Mateiciucová, Ph.D., Mgr. Lucia Miškolciová and others. Grateful thanks also go to my family and friends. And notably, I would like express my acknowledgment of appreciation for language corrections to my friend Michal Fľak. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 8 1. SENNACHERIB’S LIFE ................................................................................ 10 1.1 Sennacherib and the campaign against the West ....................................... 14 2. Description of the onslaught ........................................................................... 18 2.1 Assyrian camp ............................................................................................ 18 2.2 Preparations for the onslaught .................................................................... 19 2.3 Simulation of the Attack ............................................................................ 20 3. THE EXCAVATION OF STRATUM LEVEL IV-III ................................... 22 3.1 Fortifications .............................................................................................. 22 3.2 The siege ramp ........................................................................................... 23 3.3 The counter-ramp ....................................................................................... 24 3.4 Archaeological remains from the attack .................................................... 25 4. THE SIEGE OF LACHISH THROUGH THE ASSYRIAN RELIEF ........... 27 5. REMAINS OF THE OTHER SIEGE RAMPS ............................................... 32 6. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 33 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 38 FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 39 REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 45 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. 50 INTRODUCTION The mound of the ancient city of Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir in Arabic) is located 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem and to the west of the Judaean Hills. The area of the site is approximately 7 hectares (18 acres) and it is spread over a relatively high hillock, which rises over 265m above the sea level (Ussishkin, 1990:53). On its north side, the elevation of 42m above the valley provided a natural defense mechanism to the city. The siege of Lachish and the assault was lead from southwest due to a mild elevation of only 23m high from the foot of the surrounding valley (Fig.1). Tel Lachish was first identified as Lachish by Albright (1929:3). The very first excavation was realized by a British archaeological team headed by James L. Starkey between 1932 and 19361. The excavation was carried out with a particular attention to architectural units where Starkey was able to recognize more than seven occupation levels; however, only brief preliminary reports were produced (Ussishkin, 2004). After the Second World War, in 1966 and 1968, Yohanan Aharoni conducted limited research that was focused on the area of the “Solar Shrine”, located in the eastern part of the city (Aharoni, 1968). Later, between 1973 and 1994, successful methodical archaeological excavations were performed by Prof. David Ussishkin2. The excavators concentrated especially on sections uncovered during Starkey’s research. Thus, the research of Lachish was divided into different areas; for clarity, these areas are designated by letters, e.g. Area GW (the outer-city gate) or Area R (Fig.2), which is located at the site of the Assyrian attack at southwest corner of the mound. The hillock was settled from the Chalcolithic period set in 4th millennium B.C. until the Post-exilic period (Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic), ca. 1st century B.C – 6th century B.C. (Fig.3). Through this colonization of the mound that lasted approximately four thousand years, in archaeological terms the site was divided into eight strata3. From Level VIII (which accrues to Middle Bronze Age III) to Level I. Important historical milestones were captured during the settlement on the mound of Lachish. Between Level VI and Level V, there is a gap 1 In 1936 the research was abandoned due to a sudden death of Starkey. On his return from the site to Jerusalem, he was assassinated by Arab bandits. The effort was later resumed and finished by his assistant Olga Tufnell in 1958 (Tufnell, 1958). 2 With an assistance of Dr. Gaby Barkay, Dr. Christa Clamer, Dr. Yehuda Dagan, Mr. John Woodhead and Ms. Orna Zimhoni. 3 The latest two levels (Lvl.VII, Lvl.VIII) were recognized by the excavation of Ussishkin and the Starke’s allocation of six (Lvl.I- Lvl.VI) levels from Late Bronze Age to the Persian-Hellenistic period was confirmed. 8 in occupation lasting two centuries, suggesting a connection to the conquest of Canaan, as documented by the Bible (Joshua, 10)1. The following stratum Level IV and III is related to the conquest of Lachish in 701 B.C. which will be elaborated on here. The abandonment of the site followed after the Babylonian conquest during the 6th century B.C and it was linked to Jewish deportation. During archaeological research, it is necessary to take into account, besides the requisite material remains, the less direct evidence, such as written sources and artistic depictions. Perhaps our perception Lachish would be drastically different from what it is nowadays if the Lachish reliefs had not been discovered by Austen Henry Layard during his excavations at Tell Mosul in 1845-47 (Barnett, Bleibtreu and Turner, 1998). This piece of Assyrian sculptural art was erected at a hall leading to the throne room of Sennacherib’s royal palace after the military campaign against Judah (Ussishkin, 1980). Searching for coherent information and relationship between artistic depictions and archaeological remains is not always simple. The reliefs of the ancient