The Palace of Sennacherib, the Assyrian King who captured Jerusalem about 700 before the Christian era, has been unearthed by a University of Chicago expedition. Prof. Edward Chiera. just returned from the scene, says. It is larger than Solomon’s Temple, and is close to the Tigris, not far from the site of ancient Nineveh.
Sennacherib figures in the Old Testament as the King who was smitten by the angel of the Lord, possibly with poison gas, as the whole army was destroyed, when it “came down like a wolf on the fold.”
Awaiting shipment are 125 tons of relief work dug up. Included is a 20-ton stone bull, which once guarded the gateway to the palace. Inscriptions will be translated here at the university’s Oriental Institute. Prof. Chiera believes facts regarding ancient Assyria will be greatly increased.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
