King Sennacherib Research Articles

The development of the screw pump from Assyrian King Sennacherib Time to Archimedes

The literary and archaeological evidence suggests that Archimedes was the first to design and construct a mechanical water-raising screw pump. Meanwhile, a discussion pioneered by Assyrian scholar Dalley, based on some bass reliefs in the palace of the Assyrian King Sennacherib (705–681 BC) at Nineveh, suggests that the screw pump was used several centuries before Archimedes in Mesopotamia. We analysed the same texts cited by Dalley from an engineering perspective. We offered a design option if King Sennacherib used a screw pump to lift large quantities of water. The design and operation principle of the water screw used during the rule of the Assyrian King Sennacherib would be different from Archimedes’ water screw pump. Archimedes’ closed-channel design, as described by Roman architect Vitruvius, connects the inside of the barrel to the outer edge of the helical flights on the screw, making it very difficult to design, manufacture and operate if cast in bronze. However, our proposal of a rotating screw in a stationary open-channel screw design was very feasible to build, optimize by experimentation and operate if only the shaft was cast in bronze and palm sheaths were coiled helically on the shaft.

The geoarchaeological investigation on the defunctionalisation of an Assyrian canals system reveals Late-Holocene land use transitions in Northern Mesopotamia

During the Assyrian rule over Northern Mesopotamia (present-day northern Iraq), complex systems of canals were built to increase the surface of cultivable land and improve the movement of people and goods across the irrigated waterscape of the hinterland of Nineveh and other major urban centres, with the aim of granting socio-economic prosperity to the empire. Nevertheless, supra-regional political instability eventually led to the rapid downfall of the Assyrian state during the late seventh century BCE, causing the swift abandonment of the canal systems. In this study, we examine the post-abandonment formation processes of the natural and anthropogenic infillings of three portions of King Sennacherib’s Khinis canal system (705–681 BCE, northwestern Kurdistan Region of Iraq) through means of archaeological, sedimentological and micromorphological analyses. We identify water lain sediments, desiccation features, colluvial gravel intake and pastoral occupation layers, anchoring the deposit to radiometric dating and contextualising it against the known regional climatic history. The interpretation of pedostratigraphic evidence highlights subsequent phases of use, abandonment, and repurposing of the canals, reflecting shifts in land-use from agriculture to pastoralism and dynamic adaptation and resilience of the local ancient communities in response to Late-Holocene climate changes and geopolitical events.

A VIOLENT END OR A RESPECTFUL BEGINNING? CAVE 120 AT LACHISH REVISED

A VIOLENT END OR A RESPECTFUL BEGINNING? CAVE 120 AT LACHISH REVISED

Depictions of Egypt in the Book of Hosea and Their Implications for Dating the Book

Abstract Traditionally, the oracles contained in the book of Hosea, at least in their earliest forms, have been dated prior to the fall of the Northern Kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians. In a previous essay, I argued that there is evidence that would suggest that at least some of the oracles date a few decades later, to the reign of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. On the basis of Hosea’s presentation of Egypt both as a potential source of help and as a military threat, the present essay argues that Hosea’s oracles make more sense in the final decade of the eighth century, after Samaria’s fall, than before the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom, as most scholars have traditionally assumed.

The wars, epidemics and destiny of Empires of Ancient World

The article considers the features of the impact of epidemics on the course of hostilities and the fate of the states of Antiquity. Three cases are presented as examples. The first one is related to the invasion of the Assyrian King Sennacherib in Judea and the attempt of his troops to take Jerusalem. The second case is related to the epidemic in Athens in the early years of the Peloponnesian war. The third one - with the epidemic in the Roman Empire in the 2nd half of the 2nd century AD. The analysis, based on information from extant sources, permitted to conclude that the intensity and destructive effect of epidemics in the Ancient World increased gradually. To this fact is attributed the effect of "closing" the Oikumena into a single whole. However, the degree of influence of epidemics on the fate of ancient states is greatly exaggerated by the historical tradition, which developed under the influence of emotional descriptions of the tragedies and mass deaths of people.

Dissemination and price of cotton in Mesopotamia during the 1st millennium BCE

The archaeological finds attest that cotton textiles appeared in Mesopotamia during the 1st millennium B.C. The first attempt to cultivate this plant, according to the available written sources, was by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, and also dates back to this period. However, the identification of the word for cotton in Akkadian is still the subject of debate. The present paper will first clear up these debates and summarize the current arguments in favour of the most probable hypothesis: the term kidinnu would refer to cotton. From this postulate, the crossing of archaeological and textual data will allow us to make an attempt at chronology of the spread of cotton in the region. Then, a study of the different uses of cotton will shed light on the social status and on the economic value of this textile fibre in Mesopotamia. Indeed, although cotton was a new product in Mesopotamia in the 1st millennium BCE, its price remained moderate and it was not a luxury product.

Una inscripción de Senaquerib en la Real Academia de la Historia

La Real Academia de la Historia conserva en los fondos de su Gabinete de Antigüedades una inscripción del rey asirio Senaquerib (704-681 a.C.) procedente de su palacio de Nínive. Algunas inexactitudes en las ediciones del texto de J. F. Riaño (1895) y de J. M. Peñuela (1966), nuevas informaciones derivadas de los trabajos de catalogación del mencionado Gabinete de Antigüedades, así como la publicación de recientes e importantes obras acerca de la epigrafía y las esculturas del palacio de Senaquerib, aconsejaban revisar algunos aspectos de la inscripción. Esta fue probablemente extraída en torno a 1850 de la Sala IX del palacio, en concreto del reverso de alguno de los bajorrelieves o esculturas que adornaban dicha sala. Su texto no estaba destinado, por tanto, a la lectura pública: alude únicamente al palacio y a la titulatura de Senaquerib, y habría servido para asociar el nombre del rey a su monumental obra. Una pequeña parte de ella -dos hermosos bajorrelieves- se encuentran también depositados en la RAH y procedían quizá de la misma sala del palacio.

Analysis and Processing of Nadir and Stereo VHR Pleiadés Images for 3D Mapping and Planning the Land of Nineveh, Iraqi Kurdistan

The impressive hydraulic system built by the Assyrian King Sennacherib is composed by different archaeological areas, displaced along the Land of Nineveh, in Iraqi Kurdistan. The extensive project we are working on has the aim of mapping and geo-referencing any kind of documentation in order to design an archaeological-environmental park able to preserve and enhance the archaeological complex. Unfortunately, the area is failing a topographic documentation and the available cartography is not sufficient for planning and documentation purposes. The research work presented in these pages moves towards this direction, by exploiting Pleiadés Very High Resolution (VHR) images (in both nadir and stereo configuration) for an accurate mapping of the site. In more depth, Pleiadés nadir VHR images have been used to perform a pansharpening procedure used to enhance the visual interpretation of the study area, whilst stereo-pair have been processed to produce the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the study area. Statistical evaluations show the high accuracy of the processing and the reliability of the outputs as well. The integration of different products, at different Levels of Detail within a unique GIS environment, besides protecting, preserving and enhancing the water system of Sennacherib’s, paves the way to allow the Kurdistan Regional Government to present a proposal for the admission of the archaeological complex in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List (WHTL).

Rebellion, Sargon II’s “Punishment” and the Death of Aššur-nādin-šumi in the Inscriptions of Sennacherib

AbstractDespite the frequency of rebellions against the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib, very few events in his annals are described as such. Instead rebels are often described as having never submitted to Sennacherib before. This reluctance to write about rebellion is unusual in Assyrian inscriptions, but has not been commented upon in the previous scholarship. This study investigates the reasons for this peculiarity of Sennacherib’s inscriptions. It is argued that the description of rebels in this fashion was intended to draw attention away from the connection between these events and the death of Sennacherib’s father, Sargon II. A second instance of a death in Sennacherib’s family affecting the content of his inscriptions is also identified. His son Aššur-nādin-šumi’s death followed a pair of campaigns to the borders of Tabal, the location of Sargon’s death. Because of this it was viewed as a “punishment” for undertaking these campaigns to regions tainted by association with Sargon. After his death, Aššur-nādin-šumi is never mentioned in the same inscription as these campaigns. Although Sennacherib generally avoids mentioning rebellion, overcoming such events was an important facet of Assyrian royal ideology. Because of this, events in some ideologically or historically significant regions are explicitly stated to be rebellions in the annals. Sennacherib’s inscriptions therefore demonstrate, perhaps better than those of any other Assyrian king, the two sides of rebellion’s ideological importance as both an obstacle overcome by a heroic king, and as a punishment for a poor one. His attempts to obscure some occurrences of rebellion demonstrate a fear of the more negative ideological aspect of rebellion which is not usually present in the inscriptions of other kings. This provides new insight into the factors which influenced the composition of Sennacherib’s inscriptions.

BACK TO SENNACHERIB'S AQUEDUCT AT JERWAN: A REASSESSMENT OF THE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

The aqueduct in limestone blocks at Jerwan in the present day Dohuk region of Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the most imposing monuments erected by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681 b.c.) as part of his vast hydraulic program for Nineveh. This aqueduct, subject of a precise and innovative, albeit brief, investigation by Thorkild Jacobsen and Seton Lloyd in 1933, was re-examined in September 2012 by the two authors with an eye to the cuneiform texts engraved on the stone surfaces. The present study is aimed at a survey of the various specimens of royal inscriptions A–C, in their various occurrences and in relation to the architectural features of the monument; specifically, a new geographical analysis of inscription B is suggested. An updated contextual overview is provided of the approximately 200 inscribed blocks bearing so-called “inscription D”, benefitting from new collations. Finally, working hypotheses are presented on the probable place of origin of this text, and on the historical phase in which the puzzling placement of its written components could have taken place.

The Royal Streets obelisks in Nineveh between the Biblical Text and the Art Scene

The research deals with an Assyrian stone obelisk acquired by the Iraqi Museum in 1999 and displayed in the Mosul Civilization Museum with museum number 147624 - A.D. It is a rectangular obelisk that includes a text written in cuneiform dating back to the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BC). The text included the name of the king and his titles and a summary of his military actions as well as his construction works in "the city of Nineveh. The obelisk was appended to the penalties imposed on those who cross the street in which it was placed".

Al-Khawser River in Cuneiform Sources

The Khosr River is one of the ancient tributaries of the Tigris River, whose traces of its valley are still visible in the city of Nineveh to the present time. According to the discovered written evidence, the first mention of the Khosr River in cuneiform texts came in the records of the Middle Assyrian Period, specifically from the reign of King Tukulti - Abel - Ishara I (1115-1077 BC). As the name of the river was mentioned in the texts of this king in the form (Khosra), while it was mentioned in the texts of King Sennacherib (704-681 BC) in the form (Khosri), and this name has continued to this day despite the passage of 3000 years since Its inclusion in cuneiform texts.

The Why, How, and When of the Siloam Tunnel Reevaluated

The Siloam Tunnel, an important engineering achievement of the Iron Age II, led the water of the Gihon Spring inside the city perimeter of ancient Jerusalem, ensuring water supply in peacetime as well as during war. This enterprise was planned after an earlier aqueduct failed to adequately supply Jerusalem's water needs because of hydrological limitations; also it was insufficiently defensible. We hypothesize that the tunnel was hewn at a level close to that of the local groundwater, along a natural winding route of interconnected karstic cavities developed in fissures and in dipping bedding planes. Because of the time needed to complete the project (we estimate at least four years), it could not have been undertaken as a countermeasure to the Assyrian king Sennacherib's siege in the year 701 B.C.E., nor could it have been completed before King Hezekiah's death in 698 B.C.E. We therefore suggest that it was carried out by Manasseh, King of Judah, at the beginning of the seventh century B.C.E.

Middle paleolithic to neolithic cultural history of North Iraq

Six sections of 1–2.7-m depth contain ten sediment samples, each collected from the caves of Shanidar, Hawdian, and Hazar Merd with the nearby river valley sites of Zawi-Chemi, Gawra River, and Barda Balka, respectively, in North Iraq. They have been analyzed palynologically for their climatic significance and vegetational cover during late Quaternary in northeastern Iraq. The main information gathered from these palynological analyses as well as stone tools is ancient open site settlements in Barda Balka of Paleolithic interglacial Acheuleon culture. During the last Ice Age (120,000–10,000 years before present (B.P.)) people refuged to cave settlements. Baradost Mountain as well as the Aqra and Piera Maqroon mountains cavemen of the Middle Paleolithic Period are related to steppe vegetation with cold climate and glacial storms. Those cavemen manufactured stone artifacts of Mousterian to Gravetian culture and have their own religious belief and funeral ceremony especially recorded in the Shanidar cave. They lived by hunting and food collecting from a nearby valley to each cave. During earliest Holocene time (10,000 years B.P.), changing climate to moderately warm climate with Quercus forests and poacean vegetation was recorded, and the cavemen evolved to Neolithic culture and hence moved to settle in plain areas and built the oldest villages of the world, viz., Zawi-Chemi and Jarmo with continuing temporarily living in the caves as well. Their habit changed from food collectors to farmers who cultivated the land with wheat, barley, fruits, olive, legumes, and flowers of brilliant colors, nice odor, and nectariferous as well as domesticated animals for their food resources. Clay tablets of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians have documented (Arapha) Kirkuk as one of their cities since 5,500 years B.P. The stone writing records of Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–681 years B.C.) state of making irrigation canals flowing to the temple of Ishtar in Erbil. On the other hand, the similarity of Jarmo village in the present Kurdstan region of Iraq to ancient Tell Hassuna village, south of the present Mosul city (within ancient Nineva city), and the pottery of Jarmo villages to Nineva pottery could give evidence for Jarmo people as followers to the Babylonian–Assyrian cultures within their empire and to prove that people of North Iraq and South Iraq are interrelated cultures through the history within Mesopotamian cultures.

Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World

Invention of the water screw is traditionally credited to the third-century B.C. Greek scientist-engineer Archimedes, on the basis of numerous Greek and Latin texts and the technological context of Hellenistic Alexandria. An Assyrian text from the seventh century B.C. may be interpreted to show that king Sennacherib cast such a device in bronze at Nineveh, for use in his palace garden. Such an argument may be strengthened by comparison with details of Assyrian technical capabilities in large-scale casting and in making bearings, and with later Greek texts referring to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The method for casting a bronze screw implied in the Assyrian text and instructions for building a wooden water screw provided by Vitruvius were reproduced for a television program. Arguments are presented for and against the invention of the device centuries before Archimedes, together with a discussion of the social context in which such inventions took place in antiquity.

Sale of Nineveh Fragments Exposes Looting Network

MOSUL-- When invaders burned the palace of Assyrian King Sennacherib here in 612 B.C., hundreds of massive, elaborately carved stone slabs were buried under meters of debris. What the enemy troops failed to destroy 2600 years ago, looters encouraged by the Western and Japanese thirst for antiquities have been vanquishing in the past 10. On a recent visit, smashed stones littered the ground where whole slabs once stood.

The final sack of Nineveh. The discovery, documentation, and destruction of King Sennacherib's throne room at nineveh, Iraq. By John Malcolm Russell. pp. 248, 38 fig., 277 pl. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1998. £40.00.

The final sack of Nineveh. The discovery, documentation, and destruction of King Sennacherib's throne room at nineveh, Iraq. By John Malcolm Russell. pp. 248, 38 fig., 277 pl. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1998. £40.00. - Volume 10 Issue 1

The Gates and Guardians in Sennacherib's Addition to the Temple of Assur

Among texts dating from the reign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–681 BC) are descriptions of a courtyard built on the king's behalf for the temple of Assur in the city of Assur. The texts note the names and orientations of the courtyard's gates, and mention the mythical figures that were included in its decoration. In this paper I will argue that an overall theme governed the choice of names and influenced the selection of mythical figures. The theme, as we shall see, was chosen to provide the temple's god, enthroned in his chamber, with a cosmic setting proper to his dignity as chief Assyrian divinity, and to refer in particular to Assur's leadership in the assembly of the gods in springtime.

Book reviews - John Malcolm Russell. The final sack of Nineveh: the discovery, documentation, and destruction of King Sennacherib's throne room at Nineveh, Iraq. 192 pages. 1998. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press; 0300074182 hardback £40 & $60

Book reviews - John Malcolm Russell. The final sack of Nineveh: the discovery, documentation, and destruction of King Sennacherib's throne room at Nineveh, Iraq. 192 pages. 1998. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press; 0300074182 hardback £40 & $60 - Volume 73 Issue 282

The final sack of Nineveh: the discovery, documentation, and destruction of King Sennacherib's throne room at Nineveh, Iraq

In the Palace without Rival at Nineveh, the Assyrian King Sennacherib immortalised his 701 B.C. campaign against Jerusalem with a series of spectacular wall relief sculptures. Amazingly, when the palace was rediscovered twenty-five centuries later in 1847, the sculpture in the throne room areas remained largely intact. But today, air pollution, animal damage, vandalism, neglect, and - worst of all - looting for the international antiquities market by Iraq's own sanctions-striken people, have brought ruin to the palace. The splendour of Sennacherib's palace now survives only in this irreplaceable book. Art historian and archaeologist John Malcolm Russell, who in 1989 set about creating the only extensive photographic record of the palace architecture, sculptures, and inscriptions ever made, has preserved in pictures much that has since been lost. This book is not only a major contribution to the understanding of Assyrian palatial art and architecture, it is also the key to safeguarding the treasures of Sennacherib's palace and other ancient sites, for Russell proposes standards in archaeological excavation, documentation, and public policy that will help preserve cultural artifacts in an unstable world.