In this post, we will explore images of the Siege of Lachish Reliefs and the story they depict. While these reliefs have been studied by countless people, not many do so through the eyes of the Lachish people. This time, we will consider the Lachish people and hopefully gain a humanitarian perspective. Assyria By 701 BCE the Assyrian kings, based in Nineveh (modern-day Mosul Governorate, Iraq), built their enormous empire. It stretched from modern-day Iran to Egypt and covered most of the modern-day Middle East. The Assyrian Empire was the largest land empire yet created, the product of the prodigious Assyrian war-machine. The Assyrian heartland on the Tigris River was an ideal agricultural and trade area, but it was a bare one, with no natural boundaries or defences. Thus, the Assyrian rulers built a great army to police their frontiers, expand their territories, and keep potential enemies at bay. Lachish Lachish (modern-day Tell ed-Duweir, Israel), lies about 800 kilometres south-west of the Assyrian heartland, but only 40 kilometres south-west of Jerusalem. It was a critical point, linking Mesopotamia … Continue reading Siege of Lachish Reliefs at the British Museum