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190 Assyrian records suggests that what and when they did in Israel and Judea was synchronized with what and when they did about Babylon and Marduk. After the capture of the space-related site in Lebanon— but before launching the campaigns toward Jerusalem—the Assyrians took an unprecedented step for reconciliation with Marduk. In 729 B.c.£. Tiglath-Pileser III entered Babylon, went to its sacred precinct, and “took the hands of Marduk.” It was a gesture with great religious and diplomatic signifi- cance; the priests of Marduk approved the reconciliation by inviting Tiglath-Pileser to share in the god’s sacramental meal. Following that, Tiglath-Pileser’s son Sargon II marched southward into the olden Sumer & Akkad areas, and after seizing Nippur turned back to enter Babylon. In 710 B.c.E. he, like his father, “took the hands of Marduk” during the New Year ceremonies. The task of capturing the remaining space-related site fell to Sargon’s successor, Sennacherib. The assault on Jerusalem in 704 B.c.£., at the time of its King Hezekiah, is amply re- corded both in Sennacherib’s annals and in the Bible. But while Sennacherib in his inscriptions spoke just of the suc- cessful seizing of Judean provincial cities, the Bible provides a detailed tale of the siege of Jerusalem by a mighty Assyr- ian army that was miraculously wiped out by Yahweh’s will. Encircling Jerusalem and entrapping its people, the Assyr- ians engaged in psychological warfare by shouting discour- aging words to the defenders on the city’s walls, ending with vilification of Yahweh. The shocked king, Hezekiah, tore his clothes in mourning and prayed in the Temple to “Yahweh, the God of Israel, who rests upon the Cherubim, the sole God upon all the nations,” for help. In response, the Prophet Isa- iah conveyed to him God’s oracle: the Assyrian king shall never enter the city, he will return home in failure, and there he will be assassinated. And it came to pass that night that the Angel of Yahweh went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. THE END OF DAYS