Section 4

Just as Hezekiah had anticipated, his rebellion provoked the full wrath of the Assyrian Empire. Around 701 BC, King Sennacherib launched a massive military campaign into the Levant. The Assyrian army, a formidable and disciplined fighting force, swept through the region, conquering city after city. The biblical account records that Sennacherib captured "all the fortified cities of Judah" (2 Kings 18:13), leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Archaeological evidence, such as the Lachish reliefs, corroborates the biblical narrative, vividly depicting the brutal Assyrian siege and capture of the heavily fortified city of Lachish, second in importance only to Jerusalem. With the countryside devastated and his kingdom crumbling around him, Hezekiah found his capital, Jerusalem, as the last bastion of resistance against the overwhelming might of the Assyrian war machine.