Sennacherib’s Invasion of Hezekiah’s Judah: Disputed Victory in Light of Military HistoryWhat an interesting comparison. Cross-file under New Book.How is it that both Judah and Assyria remember the War of 701 BCE when Sennacherib invaded Judah as their respective victories? Some have explained this by concluding that either Assyria or Judah is deceptive in their written accounts of the war. In this essay, by comparing this disputed victory with the much more recent War of 1812—where both sides say they won—I argue that neither Assyrian nor biblical texts were principally deceptive in their presentation of the war as their own victory. Similar to the War of 1812, both sides had reasons to see themselves as the victor in the conflict.
See also Sennacherib and the War of 1812: Disputed Victory in the Assyrian Campaign of 701 BCE in Light of Military History (T&T Clark, 2023).
By Paul S. Evan
McMaster Divinity College
February 2025
Two thoughts:
First. We can't even agree on what's happening in the news today. Do we really think we can declare winners of ancient wars? Or as the internet proverb goes, If the news is fake, what about history?
Second, one of the best ways to end a war, or any conflict really, is to reach an arrangement where both sides can declare victory.
For some PaleoJudaica posts on Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem and what may have happened there, see the links collected at the end of this post. For more on the archaeological evidence for the siege, see here and here.
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