Overlooking the Destruction of Lachish

One room of Sennacherib’s (704–681 BC) palace at Nineveh was decorated with scenes of his dramatic destruction of Lachish, a Judean city that had rebelled against its Assyrian overlords. The reliefs illustrate a narrative intended to be “read” from left to right around the room. The siege of the city by an overwhelming military force resulted in its people being killed or led away as slaves. The king sits on an elaborate throne, on the rocky hills near the vanquished city, as prisoners are brought before him on their knees. The face of the king has been defaced by a later enemy who ransacked the palace. Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq) Southwest Palace, Room XXXVI, Slab 12 Assyrian, early 7th century BC Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 1890.7.29 Modern painted resin cast of plaster copy of British Museum, London original 124911 Photogrammetry by Zhejiang University and Mohamed Abd elaziz