D.C.-Area Lecture: Assyrian Attacks Against Lachish and Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E.
On Thursday, February 12, 2015, the Biblical Archaeology Forum will host the lecture “Assyrian Attacks Against Lachish and Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E.” by Dr. Garrett Fagan of Pennsylvania State University.
In 701 B.C.E. the Assyrian King Sennacherib launched a military campaign into ancient Judaea. The attacks on the Judaean strongholds of Lachish and Jerusalem are especially well documented, since there survive both Assyrian and Jewish written accounts of these events. In particular, there is a wealth of iconographic and archaeological evidence for the siege of Lachish in a series of reliefs in Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh in Assyria.
Dr. Fagan’s illustrated lecture explores this evidence and reconstructs the likely sequence of events.
“Assyrian Attacks Against Lachish and Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E.,” presented by Dr. Garrett Fagan
Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (JCCGW)
Feb. 12, 2015, at 8 p.m.
6125 Montrose Road
Rockville, MD 20852
Reservations are not required. Fees per lecture are: free – BAF subscribers & high school students; $5 – college students, Beth El and Har Shalom congregants & CES Life communities; $6 – BAF benefactors; $8 – BASONOVA & JCCGW members; $10 – the general public. For more information, please contact [email protected].
For more Washington, D.C.-area lectures, visit the Biblical Archaeology Society of Northern Virginia and Biblical Archaeology Forum websites.
Related reading in Bible History Daily:
Lachish: Open Access to BAR Articles on Lachish Archaeology
Ancient Israel Through a Social Scientific Lens
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Mark, I understand much more clearly now. I certainly understand that Christ was not necessarily born in the “first” year AD, so I can seem to understand why someone such as Dr. Cargill advocates for using “BCE, CE.” It is interesting to note that regardless of the “BC-AD” or “BCE-CE,” the calendar by which we count AD years is the same as CE years (just a different name). That point also seems to be clearly emphasized in the link you provided by the former Anglican bishop, Nazir-Ali. The reference point is still Christ, no matter if there is a ” /-” error of a 1-3 years (in a manner of speaking). So perhaps Dr. Cargill and others would be wise to consider which one has the purpose of acknowledging Christ. His birth is the focal point of all history anyway, even if we cannot pinpoint the exact year of His birth. It truly is a shame (though not a surprise) to see Christians take increasingly secular and liberal viewpoints – but I guess my responsibility is truly to myself. Anyway, thank you for the answer, it was most helpful.
In the year 740 B.C.E., Assyria conquered Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and took its people into exile. Eight years later, Assyria invaded Judah.* (2 Kings 18:13) The Assyrian King Sennacherib demanded of Judean King Hezekiah a tribute of 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of silver. The Bible record states that this tribute was paid. Even so, Sennacherib insisted that the capital of Judah, Jerusalem, also surrender unconditionally to him.—2 Kings 18:9-17, 28-31.
At Nineveh archaeologists have found an account of the same events in the annals of Sennacherib. In the text, which is inscribed on a hexagonal clay prism, the Assyrian king boasted: “As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and conquered (them) . . . Himself [Hezekiah] I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.” Sennacherib then claims that Hezekiah sent him “30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, . . . (and) all kinds of valuable treasures,” inflating the number of silver talents that he actually received.
Note, though, that Sennacherib does not claim to have conquered Jerusalem. In fact, he says nothing about the crushing defeat his army suffered through divine intervention. According to the Bible, God’s angel took the lives of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. (2 Kings 19:35, 36) Says scholar Jack Finegan: “In view of the general note of boasting which pervades the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, however, it is hardly to be expected that Sennacherib would record such a defeat.”
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200275183
Andrew, it’s not simply directed from another site’s description, this is a systematic thing, here. A man they regularly feature, Dr. Robert Cargill, argues that as Christians we shouldn’t use BC and AD because Christ was most probably not born in year 1 AD, so we shouldn’t use something ‘untrue’. Which of course is extremely ridiculous, because the date is generally meant to refer to the birth of Christ, precise or not (and because changing the date to make it more accurate is a forgone impossibility, it’s an all too convenient argument). He’s deeply secular, though, so it’s not surprising he advocates (disingenuously) for such a thing. This use of strictly BCE CE designations is in line with other secular organizations like the BBC: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/biblical-archaeology-topics/bbc-says-yes-to-bce/
Which they defer to as ‘not wishing to offend’. Did we ever change the names of the days of the week or the Gregorian Calendar for the same purpose? No, and to suggest this is even ‘politically correct’ is a farce of a clearly secular, antitheist agenda.
Just curious. Is the article based on the advertisement given by the event distributors? I noticed “BCE” is used instead of “BC.” Why? This is Biblical archaeology, is it not? Then why the “Before Current Era” designation and not “Before Christ”? Is it not the discovery of evidence that supports the Bible the importance of this organization? Of course, if this is simply a reprint of the event’s description, I understand, but if not, I’m greatly interested in understanding.