The Destruction of Sennacherib

Lord Byron's poem, "The Destruction of Sennacherib," is inspired by an event described in the Old Testament where the Assyrian king Sennacherib's army was decimated while besieging Jerusalem.12

Sennacherib, king of Assyria from 705 to 681 BCE, was a powerful ruler who made Nineveh his capital and undertook significant building projects. He faced numerous military campaigns, including those in Babylonia and Palestine. The biblical narrative suggests a divine intervention led to the destruction of his army, a theme Byron dramatizes in his poem. The poem vividly portrays the Assyrian forces as a mighty host struck down by an unseen force, emphasizing the swift and catastrophic end of Sennacherib's campaign against Jerusalem.12