Editing Hezekiah (section)

==Extra-biblical records==
[[File:LMLK, Ezekiah seals.jpg|thumb|A stamped bulla of King Hezekiah, "Of Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz King of Judah". Unprovenanced, [[Israel Museum]]]]

Extra-biblical sources specify Hezekiah by name, along with his reign and influence. "Historiographically, his reign is noteworthy for the convergence of a variety of biblical sources and diverse extrabiblical evidence often bearing on the same events. Significant data concerning Hezekiah appear in the [[Deuteronomist]]ic History, the Chronicler, Isaiah, Assyrian annals and reliefs, Israelite epigraphy, and, increasingly, stratigraphy".<ref name=Anchor>"Hezekiah". ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary''. 1992. Print.</ref> Archaeologist [[Amihai Mazar]] calls the tensions between Assyria and Judah "one of the best-documented events of the Iron Age". Hezekiah's story is one of the best to cross-reference with the rest of the Near Eastern world's historical documents.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Archaeological record===
[[File:Cuneiform Inscription mentioning in details the tribute sent by Hezekiah, king of Judah, to Sennacherib. The British Museum.jpg|thumb|A [[cuneiform]] inscription mentioning in detail the tribute sent by Hezekiah, king of Judah, to Sennacherib. The [[British Museum]]]]

Storage jars with the so-called "[[LMLK seal]]" may "demonstrate careful preparations to counter Sennacherib's likely route of invasion" and show "a notable degree of royal control of towns and cities which would facilitate Hezekiah's destruction of rural sacrificial sites and his centralization of worship in Jerusalem".<ref name=Anchor/> Evidence suggests they were used throughout his 29-year reign.{{sfn|Grena|2004|p=338}}

There are some [[Bulla (seal)|bullae]] from sealed documents that may have belonged to Hezekiah himself.<ref>Grena 2004, p.&nbsp;26, Figs. 9 and 10.</ref> In 2015, [[Eilat Mazar]] discovered a [[King Hezekiah bulla|bulla]] bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew script that translates as: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah."<ref>{{cite web|title=King Hezekiah's seal discovered in Jerusalem |first=Will|last=Heilpern|date=3 December 2015 |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/03/middleeast/king-hezekiah-royal-seal/index.html|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> This is the first seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king to come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/28173|title=Impression of King Hezekiah's Royal Seal Discovered in Ophel Excavations South of Temple Mount in Jerusalem {{!}} האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים {{!}} The Hebrew University of Jerusalem|website=new.huji.ac.il|language=en|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> While another, unprovenanced bulla of King Hezekiah was known, this was the first time a seal impression of Hezekiah had been discovered [[in situ]] in the course of actual excavations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Impression of King Hezekiah's royal seal discovered in excavations in Jerusalem: First seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king ever exposed in situ in a scientific archaeological excavation|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151202132519.htm|access-date=24 June 2020|website=ScienceDaily|language=en}}</ref>

Archaeological findings like the [[Hezekiah seal]] led scholars to surmise that the ancient Judahite kingdom had a highly developed administrative system.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/what-the-hezekiah-seal-proves-jerusalem-status-1.5385544|title=Hezekiah Seal Proves Ancient Jerusalem Was a Major Judahite Capital|first=Julia|last=Fridman|date=14 March 2018|access-date=14 March 2018|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> In 2018, Mazar published a report discussing the discovery of a bulla which she says may have to have belonged to Isaiah. She believes the fragment to have been part of a seal whose complete text might have read "Belonging to Isaiah the prophet."<ref name=Signature>{{cite journal|last1=Mazar|first1=Eliat|title=Is This the Prophet Isaiah's Signature?|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|date=1 February 2018|volume=44|issue=2|pages=64–69|url=https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/44/2/7|access-date=14 March 2018|quote=This seal impression of Isaiah, therefore, is unique, and questions still remain about what it actually says. However, the close relationship between Isaiah and King Hezekiah, as described in the Bible, and the fact the bulla was found next to one bearing the name of Hezekiah seem to leave open the possibility that, despite the difficulties presented by the bulla’s damaged area, this may have been a seal impression of Isaiah the prophet, adviser to King Hezekiah.}}</ref> Several other biblical archaeologists, including George Washington University's [[Christopher Rollston]], have pointed to the bulla being incomplete and the present inscription not enough to necessarily refer to the Biblical figure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?m=201802|title=2018 February|website=www.rollstonepigraphy.com|language=en-US|access-date=27 February 2018}}</ref>

====Increase in the power of Judah====
According to the work of archaeologists and philologists, the reign of Hezekiah saw a notable increase in the power of the Judean state. At this time, Judah was the strongest nation on the Assyrian–Egyptian frontier.<ref name=Nadav>Na'aman, Nadav. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1RgRPAkLqLUC&dq=Sennacherib&pg=PA141 ''Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors''], Eisenbrauns, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1575061085}}</ref> There were increases in literacy and in the production of literary works. The massive construction of the Broad Wall was made during his reign, the city was enlarged to accommodate a large influx, and Jerusalem's population increased to an estimated 25,000, "five times the population under Solomon."<ref name=Anchor/> Mazar explains, "Jerusalem was a virtual city-state where the majority of the state's population was concentrated," compared to the rest of Judah's cities.<ref name=FinkelMazar>Finkelstein, Israel and Mazar, Amihai. ''The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel''. Leiden: Brill, 2007</ref>

Archaeologist [[Israel Finkelstein]] says, "The key phenomenon—which cannot be explained solely against the background of economic prosperity—was the sudden growth of the population of Jerusalem in particular, and of Judah in general." <ref name=FinkelMazar/> He says the cause of this growth must be a large influx of Israelites fleeing from the Assyrian destruction of the [[Northern Kingdom|northern state]]. It is "[t]he only reasonable way to explain this unprecedented demographic development." <ref name=FinkelMazar/> This, according to Finkelstein, set the stage for motivations to compile and reconcile Hebrew history into a text at that time.<ref name=FinkelMazar/> Mazar questions this explanation since, she argues, it is "no more than an educated guess." <ref name=FinkelMazar/>

====Siloam inscription====
[[File:Siloe5.jpg|thumb|The [[Siloam pool]]]]
The [[Siloam Tunnel]] was chiseled through 533 meters (1,750 feet) of solid rock<ref name=ArchBible/> to provide Jerusalem underground access to the waters of the [[Gihon Spring]] or [[Siloam Pool]], which lay outside the city.

The [[Siloam Inscription]] from the Siloam Tunnel is now in the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museums|Istanbul Archaeology Museum]]. It "commemorates the dramatic moment when the two original teams of tunnelers, digging with picks from opposite ends of the tunnel, met each other".<ref name=ArchBible/> It is "[o]ne of the most important ancient Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered."<ref name=ArchBible/> Finkelstein and Mazar cite this tunnel as an example of Jerusalem's impressive state-level power at the time.

Archaeologists like [[William G. Dever]] have pointed at archaeological evidence for the [[iconoclasm]] during the period of Hezekiah's reign.{{sfn|Moulis|2019|pp=179—80}} The central cult room of the temple at [[Arad, Israel|Arad]], a royal Judean fortress, was deliberately and carefully dismantled, "with the altars and massebot" concealed "beneath a Str. 8 plaster floor". This [[stratum]] correlates with the late 8th century; Dever concludes that "the deliberate dismantling of the temple and its replacement by another structure in the days of Hezekiah is an archeological fact. I see no reason for skepticism here."<ref>Dever, William G. (2005) ''[[Did God Have a Wife?]]: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel'' (Eerdmans), pp. 174, 175.</ref>

====Lachish relief====
[[File:Lachish Relief, British Museum 17.jpg|thumb|Part of the Lachish Relief, British Museum. Battle scene, showing Assyrian cavalry in action. Above, prisoners are led away.]]

Under [[Rehoboam]], [[Lachish]] became the second-most important city of the [[kingdom of Judah]]. During King Hezekiah's revolt against [[Assyria]], Sennacherib captured it despite determined resistance (see [[Siege of Lachish]]).

As the [[Lachish relief]] attests, Sennacherib began his siege of the city of Lachish in 701 BCE.<ref name=BibleEnc>"Hezekiah." ''The Family Bible Encyclopedia''. 1972. Print.</ref> The Lachish Relief graphically depicts the battle and the city's defeat, including Assyrian archers marching up a ramp and Judahites pierced through on mounted stakes. "The reliefs on these slabs" discovered in the Assyrian palace at Nineveh "originally formed a single, continuous work, measuring 8 feet ... tall by 80 feet ... long, which wrapped around the room".<ref name=ArchBible/> Visitors "would have been impressed not only by the magnitude of the artwork itself but also by the magnificent strength of the Assyrian war machine."<ref name=ArchBible/>

====Sennacherib's Prism of Nineveh====
{{main|Sennacherib's Annals}}
[[File:Six-sided clay prism, side 1, written on behalf of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and containing narratives of his military campaigns, 704-681 BC - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07599.JPG|thumb|A six-sided clay prism containing narratives of Sennacherib's military campaigns, Oriental Institute Museum of Chicago University]]

[[Sennacherib's Prism]] was found buried in the foundations of the Nineveh palace. It was written in [[cuneiform]], the Mesopotamian form of writing of the day. The prism records the conquest of 46 strong towns<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965) 287–288.</ref> and "uncountable smaller places," along with the siege of Jerusalem where Sennacherib says he just "shut him up ... like a bird in a cage,"<ref name=ArchBible/> subsequently enforcing a larger tribute upon him.

The Hebrew Bible states that during the night, the angel of [[Tetragrammaton|YHWH]] (Hebrew: יהוה) brought death to 185,000 Assyrians troops,<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|Kings|19:35|HE}}</ref> forcing the army to abandon the siege. Yet, it also records a tribute paid to Sennacherib of 300 silver talents following the siege. There is no account of the supernatural event in the prism. Sennacherib's account records his levying of a tribute from Hezekiah, a payment of 800 silver talents, which suggests a capitulation to end the siege. However, inscriptions describing Sennacherib's defeat of the Ethiopian forces have been discovered. These say: "As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities ... and conquered (them). ... Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage."<ref>''Ancient Near Eastern Texts'', p.&nbsp;288</ref>

He does not claim to have captured the city. This is consistent with the Bible account of Hezekiah's revolt against Assyria in that neither account indicates that Sennacherib ever entered or formally captured the city. In this inscription, Sennacherib claims that Hezekiah paid for tribute 800 talents of silver, in contrast with the Bible's 300. However, this could be due to boastful exaggeration, which was common among kings of the period. The annals{{specify|date=June 2023}} record a list of booty sent from Jerusalem to Nineveh.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grayson |first=A.K. |chapter=Assyria: Sennacherib and Essarhaddon |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Edwards |editor2-first=I. E. S. |title=The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume III Part II |year=1991 |page=110 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521227179 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC&pg=PA103}}</ref> In the inscription, Sennacherib claims that Hezekiah accepted servitude, and some theorize that Hezekiah remained on his throne as a vassal ruler.{{sfn|Grabbe|2003|p=314}} The campaign is recorded with differences in the Assyrian records and in the Biblical [[Books of Kings]]; there is agreement that the Assyrians have a propensity for exaggeration.<ref name=ArchBible/>{{sfn|Grabbe|2003|pp=308–309}}

One theory that takes the biblical view posits that a defeat was caused by "possibly an outbreak of the bubonic plague".<ref name=Handbook>''Zondervan Handbook to the Bible''. Grand Rapids: Lion Publishing, 1999, p. 303</ref> Another that this is a composite text which makes use of a 'legendary motif' analogous to that of [[the Exodus]] story.<ref>''Isaiah 1–39: With an Introduction to Prophetic Literature''. Marvin Alan Sweeney. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996, p. 476</ref>

* Where the 2 Kings account explains giving 300 talents of silver, Sennacherib's prism records 800 talents.<ref name=ArchBible/> "This discrepancy may be the result of differences in the weight of Assyrian and Israelite silver talents, or it may simply be due to the Assyrian propensity for exaggeration".<ref name=ArchBible/>

===Other records===
The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (c. 484 BCE – c. 425 BCE) wrote of the invasion and acknowledges many Assyrian deaths, which he claims were the result of a plague of mice. The Jewish historian [[Josephus]] followed the writings of Herodotus.<ref name=Anchor/> These historians record Sennacherib's failure to take Jerusalem as "uncontested".<ref name=Anchor/>