Sennacherib’s Annals (Taylor Prism)

Source: Wikipedia + Israel Museum + Biblical Archaeology Society

URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacherib%27s_Annals

Artifact Summary

Artifact: Hexagonal clay prisms inscribed with Akkadian annals
Date: c. 691–689 B.C.E.
Created: During the reign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria
Known copies: Taylor Prism (British Museum), Chicago Prism (ISAC), Jerusalem Prism (Israel Museum)
Language: Akkadian cuneiform
Biblical connection: Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem under King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18–19; Isaiah 36–37; 2 Chronicles 32)

Key Points

The prisms record Sennacherib’s third campaign (701 B.C.E.) against the Levant, including his attack on Judah.
Sennacherib claims to have conquered 46 fortified cities of Judah and deported 200,150 people.
He says he made King Hezekiah “a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.”
The inscription explicitly names “Hezekiah of Judah” and “Jerusalem” in cuneiform.
Unlike the Bible, Sennacherib does not claim to have captured Jerusalem; he says Hezekiah paid tribute and submitted.

What It Corroborates

King Hezekiah and the city of Jerusalem were real and significant enough to be named in Assyrian royal inscriptions.
Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah devastated the countryside, matching the biblical account of widespread destruction.
The fact that both Assyrian and biblical sources agree on the campaign but disagree on its outcome (Jerusalem’s survival) is a classic example of how ancient historians wrote from their own perspectives.

Status

Sennacherib’s Annals are widely accepted as authentic and are among the most important extra-biblical sources for 8th-century Judah. They corroborate the historical framework of 2 Kings 18–19 even where the details differ.

KJV Connection

2 Kings 18:13–19:37
Isaiah 36–37
2 Chronicles 32:1–23