Editing Sennacherib (section)

=== Ancestry and early life ===
[[File:Sargon_II,_Iraq_Museum_in_Baghdad.jpg|thumb|alt=Bas-relief depicting Sargon II|[[Alabaster]] [[bas-relief]] depicting [[Sargon II]], Sennacherib's father and predecessor]]
Sennacherib was the son and successor of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] king [[Sargon&nbsp;II]], who had reigned as [[king of Assyria]] from 722 to 705&nbsp;BC and as [[king of Babylon]] from 710 to 705&nbsp;BC. The identity of Sennacherib's mother is uncertain. Historically, the most popular view has been that Sennacherib was the son of Sargon's wife [[Ataliya]], although this is now considered unlikely. To have been Sennacherib's mother, Ataliya would have had to be born around the year 760&nbsp;BC, at the latest, and lived to at least 692&nbsp;BC,{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=13}} as a "queen mother" is attested in that year,{{Sfn|Kertai|2013|p=115}} but Ataliya's grave at [[Nimrud]],{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=13}} which was discovered in the 1980s,{{Sfn|Melville|2016|p=56}} indicates she was 35 years old at most when she died. The [[Assyriologist]] [[Josette Elayi]] considers it more plausible Sennacherib's mother was another of Sargon's wives, [[Ra'īmâ]]; a [[stele]] from [[Assur]] (once the capital of [[Assyria]]), discovered in 1913, specifically refers to her as the "mother of Sennacherib". Ra'īmâ's existence is a recent discovery, based on a 2014 reading of the inscription on the stele.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=13}} Sargon claimed he was himself the son of the earlier king [[Tiglath-Pileser&nbsp;III]], but this is uncertain as Sargon usurped the throne from Tiglath-Pileser's other son [[Shalmaneser&nbsp;V]].{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=27}}

Sennacherib was probably born {{Circa|}} 745&nbsp;BC in Nimrud. If Sargon was the son of Tiglath-Pileser and not a non-dynastic usurper, Sennacherib would have grown up in the royal palace at Nimrud and spent most of his youth there. Sargon continued to live in Nimrud long after he had become king, leaving the city in 710&nbsp;BC to reside at [[Babylon]], and later at his new capital, [[Dur-Sharrukin]], in 706 BC. By the time Sargon moved to Babylon, Sennacherib, who served as the [[crown prince]] and designated heir, had already left Nimrud, living in a residence at [[Nineveh]].{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=18}} Nineveh had been the designated seat of the Assyrian crown prince since the reign of Tiglath-Pileser.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=30}} As crown prince, Sennacherib also owned an estate at [[Tarbisu]]. The royal educator, Hunnî, would have educated Sennacherib and his siblings. They probably received a [[Eduba|scribal education]], learning arithmetic and how to read and write in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]].{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=18}}

Sennacherib had several brothers and at least one sister. In addition to the older brothers who died before his birth, Sennacherib had a number of younger brothers, some of whom are mentioned as being alive as late as 670&nbsp;BC, then in the service of Sennacherib's son and successor [[Esarhaddon]]. Sennacherib's only known sister, [[Ahat-abisha]], was married off to Ambaris, the king of [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]], but probably returned to Assyria after Sargon's first successful campaign against Tabal.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=15}}

Sennacherib's name, ''Sîn-aḥḥē-erība'', means "[[Sin (mythology)|Sîn]] (the moon-god) has replaced the brothers" in Akkadian. The name probably derives from Sennacherib not being Sargon's first son, but all his older brothers being dead by the time he was born. In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], his name was rendered as ''Snḥryb'' and in [[Aramaic]] it was ''Šnḥ’ryb''.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=12}} According to a 670&nbsp;BC document, it was illegal to give the name Sennacherib (then the former king) to a commoner in Assyria, as it was considered sacrilege.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=13}}