Sennacherib, << suh NAK uhr ihb >> (reigned 704-681 B.C.), was king of Assyria, in what is now northern Iraq. Sennacherib ruled the Assyrian Empire during a period of revolt and war. He fought a long series of battles against Babylonia and its allies from Elam, in what is now Iran.
Sennacherib succeeded his father, Sargon II, as king. In 703 B.C., he ended a revolt of the Babylonians and Elamites led by Merodach-Baladan. Merodach-Baladan had been king of Babylonia until defeated by Sargon and was trying to regain his throne. Cities in Syria and Palestine revolted in 701 B.C. Sennacherib regained all except Jerusalem, from whose ruler, Hezekiah, he forced tribute (payment). Sennacherib crushed a revolt in Babylonia in 689 B.C. and looted the city of Babylon. He made Nineveh Assyria’s royal capital and increased the city’s splendor. In 681 B.C., his sons murdered him, probably to avenge his ruthless treatment of the sacred city of Babylon.
