World English Bible · Under Assyria
2 Chronicles 32
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After these things and this , king of came, entered into Judah, encamped against the fortified cities, and intended to win them for himself. When saw that had come, and that he was planning to fight against , he with his princes and his to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city, and they helped him. Then many people gathered together and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the middle of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of come, and find abundant water?" He took courage, built up all the wall that was broken down, and it up to the towers, with the other wall outside, and strengthened in city, and made weapons and shields in abundance. He set captains of war over the people, gathered them together to him in the wide place at the , and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, "Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or dismayed because of the king of , nor for all who is with him; for there is a greater one with us than with him. An arm of is with him, but our is with us to help us and to fight our battles." The people rested themselves on the words of king of Judah. After this, king of sent his servants to , (now he was attacking , and all his forces were with him), to king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at , saying, king of says, "In whom do you , that you under siege in ? Doesn't persuade you to give you over to by and by thirst, saying, ' our will us out of the hand of the king of '? Hasn't the same taken away his and his , and commanded Judah and , saying, 'You shall before one , and you shall on it'? Don't you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to their land out of my hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers that could his people out of my hand, that your should be able to you out of my hand? Now therefore don't let deceive you nor persuade you in this way. Don't him, for no of any nation or kingdom was able to his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less will your you out of my hand?" His servants spoke yet more against and against his servant . He also wrote letters insulting , the of Israel, and speaking against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not their people out of my hand, so shall the of not his people out of my hand." They called out with a loud voice in the ' language to the people of who were on the wall, to frighten them and to trouble them, that they might take the city. They spoke of the of as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands. the king and the , the son of , because of this, and cried to . sent , who all the of valor, the leaders, and captains in the camp of the king of . So he returned with of to his own land. When he had come into the house of his , those who came out of his own body killed him there with . Thus and the inhabitants of from the hand of the king of and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. Many brought gifts to to , and precious things to king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from then on. In those days was terminally ill, and he to ; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign. But didn't reciprocate appropriate to the benefit done for him, because was lifted up. Therefore there was on him, Judah, and . However, humbled himself for the pride of , both he and the inhabitants of , so that didn't come on them in the days of . had exceedingly great riches and . He provided himself with treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of valuable vessels; also storehouses for the increase of grain, , and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds. Moreover he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for had given him abundant possessions. This same also stopped the upper spring of the waters of , and brought them straight down on the west side of city. prospered in all his works. However, concerning the ambassadors of the princes of , who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, left him to him, that he might know all that was in . Now the rest of the acts of and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the of the , the son of , in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. slept with his fathers, and they in the ascent to the of the sons of . All Judah and the inhabitants of him at his . his son reigned in his place.
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The world at this moment · Under Assyria, 745 BC to 612 BC ›
Assyria at full stretch, deporting whole populations as policy. The northern kingdom is destroyed in 722 BC and Judah survives as a tribute-paying vassal.
- Assyria
- The first empire to run mass deportation as ordinary administration: move the leadership somewhere else, settle strangers in their place, and the province stops being a nation. It worked. Samaria fell in 722 BC and the northern tribes did not come back. Assyria also advertised its cruelty deliberately, carving flayings and impalements on palace walls where envoys would see them, because terror is cheaper than garrisons.
- Judah
- Survives by paying. Hezekiah rebels, Sennacherib takes forty-six Judean towns and besieges Jerusalem in 701 BC, and the city holds. The Assyrian account boasts of shutting Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage and pointedly does not claim to have taken the city, which is one of the more interesting silences in ancient records.
- Egypt
- The splintered reed of a staff that Assyria's field commander mocks Judah for leaning on. It promises help and cannot deliver, and Isaiah spends decades saying so. Assyria eventually invades and sacks Thebes.
- Further afield
- Greece is in its archaic period, founding colonies from Spain to the Black Sea. Rome is under kings. Assyria's own libraries are collecting the literature of Mesopotamia, which is how Gilgamesh survived to be read again in the nineteenth century.