Monday, February 22, 2021, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EST
Oded Borowski, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Archaeology and Hebrew
“Sennacherib in Judah: The Archaeology of Destruction”
In 701 BCE, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked the Kingdom of Judah, an event documented in the Bible, in Assyrian literary and artistic sources, and even mentioned by Herodotus. Sennacherib besieged, but did not conquer, Jerusalem; he conquered Lachish, second most important city in Judah; he claimed to have destroyed 46 towns and villages; he put down the rebellion in all the member countries of the coalition as far as Cyprus; he took away land belonging to Judah and gave it to its neighbors. The widespread destruction left many materials for archaeologists to study and reconstruct what daily life was like in the 8th century BCE. Oded Borowski’s recent archaeological activity has focused on Tell Halif, one of the sites destroyed by Sennacherib. With the completion of the fieldwork he and his staff have been doing, the staff, supported in part by Emory’s Heilbrun and Bianchi/Bugge grants, is busily analyzing the finds, preparing for final publication. Oded’s presentation will briefly touch on the site, its history, the finds, and the work presently being conducted.