Thursday 21st February 2008
Dr Avraham Faust (Bar-Ilan University)
THE EXTENT OF SENNACHERIB'S CAMPAIGN TO JUDAH IN 701 BCE: A NEW EXAMINATION
A detailed examination of data from dozens of excavated sites, urban and rural alike, reveals that most parts of Judah prospered in the 7th century BCE and that in many regions this, and not the 8th century BCE, represents the peak of Iron Age settlement. Systematic investigation of the data conducted not only on a regional basis but also at the site level allows us to identify regional and local patterns of continuity, prosperity and decline during the transition from the 8th to the 7th century BCE. The Shephelah, for example, was almost totally devastated, but the other sub-regions of Judah, i.e., the highlands (the region of Benjamin, Jerusalem's environment and most of the Judean hill-country), the desert and the Negev prospered at the time. In this lecture the identified patterns will be presented, and possible explanations for the differences will be suggested. The observed patterns will then be compared and contrasted with both direct and indirect information from the various textual sources (both the biblical and the Assyrian sources) on Sennacherib's campaign to Judah in 701 BCE, in order to gain a better understanding of the campaign, its extent, and its impact on the kingdom of Judah.
Dr Avraham Faust is Director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University.
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