Editing Siege (section)

===Archaeological evidence===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
[[File:Ramesseum siege of Dapur.jpg|thumb|upright|The Egyptian [[siege of Dapur]] in the 13th century BC, from [[Ramesseum]], [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]]]

Although there are depictions of sieges from the ancient Near East in historical sources and in art, there are very few examples of siege systems that have been found archaeologically. Of the few examples, several are noteworthy:

* The late 9th-century BC siege system surrounding [[Tell es-Safi]]/[[Gath (city)|Gath]], [[Israel]], consists of a {{cvt|2.5|km|mi}} long siege trench, towers, and other elements, and is the earliest evidence of a [[circumvallation]] system known in the world. It was apparently built by [[Hazael]] of [[Aram Damascus]], as part of his siege and conquest of [[Philistine]] Gath in the late 9th century BC (mentioned in [[II Kings]] 12:18).
* The late 8th-century BC siege system surrounding the site of [[Lachish]] (Tell el-Duweir) in Israel, built by [[Sennacherib]] of [[Assyria]] in 701&nbsp;BC, is not only evident in the archaeological remains, but is described in Assyrian and [[biblical]] sources and in the reliefs of Sennacherib's palace in [[Nineveh]].
* The siege of Alt-[[Paphos]], [[Cyprus]] by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] army in the 4th century BC.