Overview
A six-sided clay prism inscribed with the final edition of the annals of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (704-681 BCE): a prologue, reports of his first eight campaigns, and an account of building work on the armoury ('rear palace') at Nineveh. It was a foundation record, buried in the building's structure. Colonel Robert Taylor acquired it in 1830; the British Museum bought it from his widow in 1855. It is not from a documented excavation: its findspot (Nebi Yunus) rests on the report at purchase.
The third campaign (701 BCE) covers Syria-Palestine: the flight of Luli of Sidon, tribute from western kings, the capture of Sidqa of Ashkelon, the battle at Eltekeh against Egyptian and Kushite forces, the punishment of Ekron, and the campaign against 'Hezekiah the Judahite'. The prism claims 46 fortified Judahite towns taken, 200,150 people counted as spoil, and Hezekiah shut up in Jerusalem 'like a caged bird'; Judahite towns were handed to the kings of Ashdod, Ekron and Gaza; Hezekiah later sent 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver and other goods, plus his daughters and palace musicians, to Nineveh.
The same text survives on the Chicago (Oriental Institute) prism of 689 BCE, and a near-identical edition (RINAP text no. 23) on the Jerusalem Prism in the Israel Museum. Earlier editions of the same campaign account go back to the Rassam Cylinder of 700 BCE. None of them claims Jerusalem was taken.
In its own words
As for Hezekiah, the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood, which were without number... I besieged and took (those cities)... Himself, like a caged bird, I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city.D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia II (Chicago, 1927), §240, pp. 120-121 (translating the Chicago prism, which carries the same text as the Taylor Prism)
What the evidence shows
- BM record: hexagonal clay prism, height 38.1 cm, BM 91032 / 1855,1003.1, dated by the eponym Bel-erumanni to 691 BCE, 'said to have been found at Nebi Yunus', purchased by Col. R. Taylor in 1830.
- The Jerusalem passage is RINAP 3/1 Sennacherib 22 ii 37-iii 49 (the third campaign).
- Names 'Hezekiah the Judahite' (Luckenbill: 'Hezekiah, the Jew') and Jerusalem as 'his royal city'.
- Claims 46 strong walled cities and countless small towns taken; 200,150 people and livestock counted as spoil.
- Hezekiah 'like a caged bird' shut up in Jerusalem; earthworks thrown up against him; those leaving the city gate turned back.
- Tribute: 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, plus precious stones, ivory furniture, his daughters, palace women and musicians, sent after the king to Nineveh.
- Padi of Ekron, handed to Hezekiah by Ekron's rebels, is brought out of Jerusalem and restored.
- There is no claim that Jerusalem was entered or taken, and no account of the Assyrian army's withdrawal.
Open questions
- Who won in 701? P. S. Evans (Bible and Interpretation, Feb 2025) argues both accounts can be read as victories because the two sides had different war aims: the Assyrian side achieved destroyed towns (Evans cites the destruction of Lachish) and tribute, while 2 Kings 18-19 / Isaiah 36-37 stress that Jerusalem stood and Hezekiah kept his throne. The prism's own silence about capturing the city, which a royal annal would normally claim, is the concrete evidence both readings rest on.
- Tribute figures differ: the prism says 30 talents of gold and 800 of silver; 2 Kgs 18:14 says 30 talents of gold and 300 of silver. The gold matches exactly; the silver does not, and the sources give no reason. Any explanation (different talent standards, inclusion of other goods) is conjecture.
- Sequence differs: in 2 Kgs 18:14-16 Hezekiah pays at Lachish before the envoys come to Jerusalem; the prism places the payment after the campaign, sent to Nineveh. The sources are silent on how to reconcile the order.
- Which edition is earlier, text 22 (Chicago/Taylor) or text 23 (Jerusalem Prism)? Grayson and Novotny (RINAP 3/1, 2012) note the month of the Jerusalem Prism is lost; its shorter building report (one wing of the armoury instead of two) suggests it may be the earlier of the two.
Since 2024
- 2025-02P. S. Evans published a comparison of the Assyrian and biblical accounts of 701 reading both as victories with different war aims. [5]
- 2025-10Israel Antiquities Authority announced a small Neo-Assyrian cuneiform fragment (probably from a bulla sealing a letter) found in Jerusalem near the Western Wall, mentioning a payment due date and a 'chariot officer'. The readers suggest it may relate to Judah's late tribute; it names no king, so a tie to Hezekiah's revolt is a hypothesis, not a reading. [6]
Sources
- British Museum, collection record 'The Taylor Prism / The Sennacherib Prism', museum no. 91032, reg. no. 1855,1003.1. link museum record
- A. K. Grayson and J. Novotny, The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704-681 BC), Part 1, RINAP 3/1 (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2012), text no. 22 (Chicago/Taylor Prism). link editio princeps
- D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. II (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927), §§231-254 (final edition of the annals), third campaign §§239-240, pp. 118-121. link translation
- CDLI, 'RINAP 3/1 Sennacherib 022, ex. 001' (P313081), Chicago Prism, ISAC Museum OIM A02793. link museum record
- P. S. Evans, 'Sennacherib's Invasion of Hezekiah's Judah: Disputed Victory in Light of Military History', The Bible and Interpretation (University of Arizona), February 2025. link study
- 'An Assyrian Letter to the King of Judah', Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 24 October 2025. link study
Corrected from the earlier edition of this page
- Old entry said the prism is 'granodiorite' / 'granite': the British Museum record gives the material as clay (baked, refired 1964).
- Old entry said it was 'discovered in 1830 during excavations': it was purchased by Col. R. Taylor in 1830 and only 'said to have been found at Nebi Yunus' (BM record); there is no excavation context.
- Old entry gave 'approximately 30 cm tall': the BM record gives 38.1 cm.
- Old entry dated the prism 'c. 701 BCE': 701 is the campaign; the prism itself is dated to 691 BCE (eponym Bel-emuranni).
- Old entry listed location as 'British Museum, Oriental Institute', merging two objects: the Taylor Prism is BM 91032; the Chicago prism (OIM A2793, 689 BCE) is a separate exemplar of the same text.
- Old entry's quote 'Hezekiah was shut up in Jerusalem...' is not the text's wording; Luckenbill 1927 §240: 'Himself, like a caged bird, I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city.'
- Old entry said the prism details 'the construction of fortifications and the deployment of troops' as military tactics: the Jerusalem passage names earthworks and turning back those leaving the gate; the fortification narrative in the text concerns the Nineveh armoury building report.
Checked against new publications through 2026-09.