Editing Sennacherib (section)

=== War in the Levant ===
{{Main|Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| perrow = 2/2
| total_width = 350
| header = Scenes from Sennacherib's [[Lachish reliefs]]
| image1 = Assyrian siege-engine attacking the city wall of Lachish, part of the ascending assaulting wave. Detail of a wall relief dating back to the reign of Sennacherib, 700-692 BCE. From Nineveh, Iraq, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg
| caption1=  Assyrian siege engine attacking the city wall of [[Lachish]]
| alt1 = Relief depicting an Assyrian siege engine attacking the city wall of Lachish
| image2 = Assyrian soldier, using a dagger, about to behead a prisoner from the city of Lachish. Detail of a wall relief dating back to the reign of Sennacherib, 700-692 BCE. From Nineveh, Iraq, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg
| caption2= Assyrian soldier about to behead a prisoner from Lachish
| alt2=Relief depicting an Assyrian soldier about to behead a man
| image3 = Judaean people are being deported into exile after the capture of Lachish.jpg
| caption3= Judean people being deported into exile after the fall of Lachish to the Assyrians
| alt3= Relief depicting the Judean people being deported by the Assyrians
| image4 = The fall of Lachish, King Sennacherib reviews Judaean prisoners..JPG
| caption4= Sennacherib (enthroned at the far right) at Lachish, interacting with his officials and reviewing prisoners
| alt4= Relief depicting Sennacherib at Lachish, interacting with officials and reviewing prisoners
}}

After the Babylonian war, Sennacherib's second campaign was in the [[Zagros Mountains]]. There, he subdued the [[Yasubigallians]], a people from east of the [[Tigris]] river, and the [[Kassites]], a people who had ruled Babylonia centuries before.{{Sfn|Levine|1973|p=313}}{{Sfn|Matty|2016|p=26}} Sennacherib's third campaign, directed against the kingdoms and city-states in the [[Levant]], is very well-documented compared to many other events in the ancient Near East and is the best-documented event in the [[history of Israel]] during the [[First Temple Period|First Temple period]].{{Sfn|Kalimi|2014|p=11}} In 705&nbsp;BC, [[Hezekiah]], the king of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], had stopped paying his annual tribute to the Assyrians and began pursuing a markedly aggressive foreign policy, probably inspired by the recent wave of anti-Assyrian rebellions across the empire. After conspiring with [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Egypt]] (then under [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushite]] rule) and [[Sidqia]], an anti-Assyrian king of the city of [[Ashkelon]], to garner support, Hezekiah attacked [[Philistines|Philistine]] cities loyal to Assyria and captured the Assyrian vassal [[Padi (king of Ekron)|Padi]], king of [[Ekron]], and imprisoned him in his capital, [[Jerusalem]].{{Sfn|Kalimi|2014|p=20}} In the northern Levant, former Assyrian vassal cities rallied around [[Luli]], the king of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and [[Sidon]].{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=10}} Sennacherib's arch-enemy Marduk-apla-iddina encouraged the anti-Assyrian sentiment among some of the empire's western vassals. He corresponded with and sent gifts to western rulers like Hezekiah, probably hoping to assemble a vast anti-Assyrian alliance.{{Sfn|Brinkman|1973|p=91}}

In 701&nbsp;BC, Sennacherib first moved to attack the [[Syro-Hittite states|Syro-Hittite]] and [[Phoenicia]]n cities in the north. Like many rulers of these cities had done before and would do again, Luli fled rather than face the wrath of the Assyrians, escaping by boat until he was beyond Sennacherib's reach. In his stead, Sennacherib proclaimed a noble by the name [[Ethbaal of Sidon|Ethbaal]] as the new king of Sidon and his vassal and oversaw the submission of many of the surrounding cities to his rule. Faced with a massive Assyrian army nearby, many of the Levantine rulers, including [[Peduel of Ammon|Budu-ilu]] of [[Ammon]], [[Kammusu-nadbi]] of [[Moab]], [[Mitinti]] of [[Asdudu|Ashdod]] and [[Aya-ramu]] of [[Edom]], quickly submitted to Sennacherib to avoid retribution.{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=11}}

The resistance in the southern Levant was not as easily suppressed, forcing Sennacherib to invade the region. The Assyrians began by taking Ashkelon and defeating Sidqia. They then besieged and took numerous cities, including [[Beth-Dagon]], [[Jaffa|Joppa]], [[Banai-Barqa]], and [[Azjuru]].{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=31 [33]}} As the Assyrians were preparing to retake Ekron, Hezekiah's ally, Egypt, intervened in the conflict. The Assyrians defeated the Egyptian expedition in a battle near the city of [[Eltekeh]]. They took the cities of Ekron and [[Timnah]] and Judah stood alone, with Sennacherib setting his sights on Jerusalem.{{Sfn|Luckenbill|1924|p=11}} While a portion of Sennacherib's troops prepared to blockade Jerusalem, Sennacherib himself marched on the important Judean city of [[Lachish]]. Both the [[Assyrian siege of Jerusalem|blockade of Jerusalem]] and the [[siege of Lachish]] probably prevented further Egyptian aid from reaching Hezekiah, and intimidated the kings of other smaller states in the region. The siege of Lachish, which ended in the city's destruction, was so lengthy that the defenders eventually began using arrowheads made of bone rather than metal, which had run out. To take the city, the Assyrians constructed a great siege mound, a ramp made of earth and stone, to reach the top of Lachish's walls. After they had destroyed the city, the Assyrians deported the survivors to the Assyrian Empire, forcing some of them to work on Sennacherib's building projects, and others to serve in the king's personal guard.{{Sfn|Barnett|1958|pp=161–164}}