Editing Sennacherib (section)

=== First Babylonian campaign ===
[[File:Vorderasiatisches_Museum_Berlin_027.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Stone carving of Sennacherib's arch enemy King Marduk-apla-iddina&nbsp;II |Depiction of Sennacherib's arch-enemy [[Marduk-apla-iddina&nbsp;II]] (left), [[king of Babylon]] 722–710 BC and 704/703–703 BC and the instigator of many of Sennacherib's later conflicts]]
Sargon&nbsp;II's death in the battle and the disappearance of his body inspired rebellions across the Assyrian Empire.{{Sfn|Kalimi|2014|p=20}} Sargon had ruled Babylonia since 710&nbsp;BC, when he defeated the Chaldean tribal chief [[Marduk-apla-iddina&nbsp;II]], who had taken control of the south in the aftermath of the death of Sargon's predecessor Shalmaneser&nbsp;V in 722&nbsp;BC.{{Sfn|Frahm|2003|p=129}} Like his immediate predecessors, Sennacherib took the ruling titles of both Assyria and Babylonia when he became king, but his reign in Babylonia was less stable.{{Sfn|Brinkman|1973|p=91}} Unlike Sargon and previous Babylonian rulers, who had proclaimed themselves as ''shakkanakku'' ([[viceroy]]s) of Babylon, in reverence for the city's deity [[Marduk]] (who was considered Babylon's formal "king"), Sennacherib explicitly proclaimed himself as Babylon's king. Furthermore, he did not "take the hand" of the [[Statue of Marduk]], the physical representation of the deity, and thus did not honor the god by undergoing the traditional Babylonian coronation ritual.{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=9}}

In angry response to this disrespect, revolts a month apart in 704{{Sfn|Frahm|2003|p=129}} or 703&nbsp;BC{{Sfn|Brinkman|1973|p=91}} overthrew Sennacherib's rule in the south. First, a Babylonian by the name of [[Marduk-zakir-shumi&nbsp;II]] took the throne, but Marduk-apla-iddina, the same Chaldean warlord who had seized control of the city once before and had warred against Sennacherib's father, deposed him after just two{{Sfn|Brinkman|1973|p=91}} or four weeks.{{Sfn|Frahm|2003|p=129}} Marduk-apla-iddina rallied large portions of Babylonia's people to fight for him, both the urban Babylonians and the tribal Chaldeans, and he also enlisted troops from the neighboring civilization of [[Elam]], in modern-day south-western Iran. Though assembling all these forces took time, Sennacherib reacted slowly to these developments, which allowed Marduk-apla-iddina to station large contingents at the cities of [[Kutha]] and Kish.{{Sfn|Levine|1982|p=36}}

Portions of the Assyrian army were away in Tabal in 704&nbsp;BC. Because Sennacherib might have considered a two-front war too risky, Marduk-apla-iddina was left unchallenged for several months. In 703&nbsp;BC, after the Tabal expedition had been completed, Sennacherib gathered the Assyrian army at Assur, often used as a mustering spot for campaigns against the south.{{Sfn|Frahm|2003|p=130}} The Assyrian army, led by Sennacherib's chief commander, launched an unsuccessful attack on the coalition forces near the city of Kish, bolstering the legitimacy of the coalition.{{Sfn|Bauer|2007|p=384}} However, Sennacherib also realized that the anti-Assyrian forces were divided and led his entire army to engage and destroy the portion of the army encamped at Kutha. Thereafter, he moved to attack the contingent at Kish, winning this second battle as well. Fearing for his life, Marduk-apla-iddina had already fled the battlefield.{{Sfn|Levine|1982|p=36}} Sennacherib's inscriptions state that among the captives taken after the victory was a stepson of Marduk-apla-iddina and brother of an Arab queen, [[Yatie]], who had joined the coalition.{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=10}}

Sennacherib then marched on Babylon.{{Sfn|Levine|1982|p=37}} As the Assyrians appeared on the horizon, Babylon opened its gates to him, surrendering without a fight.{{Sfn|Bauer|2007|p=384}} The city was reprimanded, suffering a minor sack,{{Sfn|Bauer|2007|p=384}} though its citizens were unharmed.{{sfn|Grayson|1991|p=106}} After a brief period of rest in Babylon, Sennacherib and the Assyrian army then moved systematically through southern Babylonia, where there was still organized resistance, pacifying both the tribal areas and the major cities.{{Sfn|Levine|1982|p=37}} Sennacherib's inscriptions state that over two hundred thousand prisoners were taken.{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=10}} Because his previous policy of reigning as king of both Assyria and Babylonia had evidently failed, Sennacherib attempted another method, appointing a native Babylonian who had grown up at the Assyrian court, [[Bel-ibni]], as his vassal king of the south. Sennacherib described Bel-ibni as "a native of Babylon who grew up in my palace like a young puppy".{{Sfn|Brinkman|1973|p=91}}