Assyrian downfall through Isaiah’s eyes (2 Kings 15–23) 9 they overcame insurmountable problems posed by enemy defense (rwxm yray lk ym[p πkb brjaw) (25), and used or destroyed the enemy’s resources (ARAB II.32) (26). In this perspective the Assyrians are the conquerors of the world; their troops penetrated into even the most remote and inaccessible parts of the world (ARAB II.23, 25). No one could stop their expansion. The list of Assyrian heroic deeds starts with ybkr bkrb (2 Kgs 19,23b) (27) indicating that Sennacherib attributes the success to Assyrian military power. The victims’interpretation: The victims of Assyrian campaigns are described in the taunt song as an object in 3. pers. sing. The lowly —————— often received a special place in the Neo-Assyrian records. The best known is Sargon II’s 8th campaign against Urartu; for details and bibliography see F. THUREAU-DANGIN, Une Relation de la Huitième Campagne de Sargon (714 Av. J.- C.) (Paris 1912); G.W. VERA CHAMAZA, “Der VIII. Feldzug Sargons II. Eine Untersuchung zur Politik und historischer Geographie des späten 8. Jhs. v. Chr. (I)”, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 27 (1994) 91-118; idem, “Der VIII. Feldzug Sargons II. Eine Untersuchung zur Politik und historischer Geographie des späten 8. Jhs. v. Chr. (II)”, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 28 (1996) 235-257. (25) Most exegetes prefer to translate the expression rwxm yray lk (19,24) as “all the rivers of Egypt” even though it does not fit into the entire picture of the taunt song; for discussion see H. TAWIL, “The Historicity of 2 Kings 19:24 ( = Isaiah 37:15): The Problem of r/xm;yrEaoy“”, JNES 41 (1982) 195-206. However, this expression can also be taken as an allusion to sophisticated strategies employed by the Assyrians in order to overcome enemy resistance (trans. “all the rivers of the fortress”). Here are two examples of Assyrians overcoming water-based defenses. In 710 B.C. in his campaign against Babylon Sargon II blocked the Tubliash River, on which the Arameans depended for their food supply, and starved the rebellious tribes out of the territory that was inaccessible to the Assyrian army; A. FUCHS, Die Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad (Göttingen 1994) 146-147. The other example comes from the end of the same campaign. While attacking Merodach-Baladan, Sargon II had to face an insurmountable difficulty. Merodach-Baladan had prepared his capital for the decisive battle by digging a moat 100 m wide and 9 m deep, and flooding the area with waters diverted from the Euphrates in order to prevent Sargon II from using his chariotry and cavalry. Sargon II built a ramp across the swamps and burned down the city; see M.A. POWELL, “Merodach-Baladan at Dur-Jakin: A Note on the Defense of Babylonian Cities”, JCS 34 (1982) 59-61. (26) For the destruction of trees see S.W. COLE, “The Destruction of Orchards in Assyrian Warfare”, Assyria 1995. Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki, September 7-11, 1995 (Helsinki 1997) 29-40. (27) This expression is usually emended ybkr brb, trans. “in the multitude of my chariots” following the LXX versions; COGAN, II Kings, 226. However, it can also be translated as “when/while riding my chariot”.