A Sennacherib Inscription

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 27, 1913

A Sennacherib Inscription

Yet another piece of valuable testimony. There has lately been added to the British Museum an Assyrian inscription relating to Sennacherib. The Bible states that after his return (how long is not stated) from his invasion of the land of Israel, “it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” 2 Kings 19:37. For long that record stood alone, with no other known reference to it in history; but the famous coronation inscription of Nabonidus, B. C. 555, which gives a summary of the chief events in the history of the New Babylonian Empire, records this event, and says of Sennacherib: “That king of Assyria, who, by the anger of Merodach, had accomplished the destruction of the land, the son, the offspring of his body, with the sword pierced him.” Another inscription gives the date when the murder occurred: “On the 20th day of the month Tebet, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, his son slew him in a rebellion.” The same inscription tells that the rebellion lasted from the day of the murder until the twenty-eighth day of Sivan of the next year, “when Esarhaddon, his son, sat on the throne of Assyria.” That two were privy to this murder seems clear from the inscription, for Esarhaddon tells us that he had to fight against his two brothers. The Assyrian inscription now added to the museum carries the testimony a little farther, for it relates to the place where the murder took place. The Bible expressly says, “In the house of Nisroch his god.” The newly acquired cylinder has been dug up from the foundation of the great gate of the wall of the city, and it reads: “To Nergal, his lord, king of Assyria, a palace shrine which is within the city of Tarbizi, from foundation to roofs he built and completed.” “The flight of the murderers into Armenia is confirmed by the recording Esarhaddon, who defeated them in a battle on the Armenian frontier.”—Bible Standard.