Lachish Reliefs

The Lachish Reliefs are displayed at the British Museum in London, where they have been part of the collection since their excavation from the site of Nineveh in the 19th century. They were discovered in the ruins of Sennacherib's Southwest Palace in what is now northern Iraq.

The reliefs depict the Assyrian siege and capture of the Judean city of Lachish in 701 BCE during the military campaign of King Sennacherib. The panels show Assyrian soldiers attacking the city's defenses, Judean captives being led away, and Sennacherib enthroned receiving surrender.

The reliefs were carved shortly after the 701 BCE capture of Lachish, making them nearly 2,700 years old. They were originally installed as wall decoration in Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh, the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Sennacherib dedicated an entire palace room to the Lachish campaign, giving it unusually prominent treatment compared to other battles he depicted. This suggests the capture of Lachish held particular symbolic or strategic significance, possibly because his forces did not conquer Jerusalem itself, as recorded in both Assyrian and biblical sources.