The Siege of Lachish: The Assyrian Army Advance.

Sennacherib was the son of a usurper Sargon II. Sargon had taken the throne by force and set up his own capital in Korsabad, in present day Iraq. When Sennacherib came to the throne he moved a short distance west to his new capital of Nineveh. In his new palace he decorated the walls with stone panel depictions of his conquests in battle. Many of the panels were severely damaged in a fire during the destruction that ensued when the Assyrian empire finally fell to the Babylonians in 612BC. The palace and it’s carvings were rediscovered in the mid 19th century, much of the work being credited to Sir Henry Layard who dispatched many of his finds back to London and the British Museum for display to the public. Of particular interest to Biblical scholars is this room sized depiction of the fall of Lachish to Sennacherib.

The relief tells the story from left to right and is of course from the perspective of and for the glory of the Assyrians, .

You are first greeted with a depiction of the formidable force of the Assyrian army as it advances on the town of Lachish.



Although some of the upper parts of the relief are missing, the might of the Assyrian army is still well depicted in this scene. Included are a number of different troops…































































































































Sling stones recovered from Lachish during the archaeological investigations there in the 1950’s.



Iron arrow heads recovered from Lachish. These are from the arrows the Assyrians would have fired at the Judean defenders in Lachish.



In response there is evidence that the defenders of Lachish were running out of ammunition. Arrow heads crudely made of bone were being manufactured and fired back at the Assyrians.







Archers were placed at the front of the battle lines. These were forward troops, precision shooting at close range. They are working in pairs. One holds a thick defensive reed shield whilst the archer picks off the defenders of Lachish. Both are protected by tall helmets with hinged ear flaps and are wearing bronze lamellar body armour.

One of Sennacherib’s forward storm troopers. He carries his own light weight defensive shield, a long spear or lance and a short sword for close combat. He is equipped for speed and agility and wears no body armour.







Further back in the ranks are depicted pairs of archers. As these are not front line troops they are not shielded. However they are wearing bronze lamellar body armour. Row upon row of archers shoot a hail of arrows at the defenders of Lachish.

Right at the back of the battle lines behind the archers are shown the slingers. The stones they threw were large, about the size of a cricket ball. Modern day slingers are able to sling a stone over 100 metres (330 feet). These it seems were thrown over the top of the archers and the front line troops, onto the enemy. As seen below, many large sling stones have been found close to the main gates of Lachish.

Below is depicted an infantry guard. He appears to wear no body armour but is otherwise well equipped. The shield would have been made from a leather cone embossed with bronze.










The Siege of Lachish: The Assyrian Army Advance.


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