Story · 7 · Hezekiah and Isaiah

Propaganda shouted at the city wall

Besieging Jerusalem, an Assyrian general refuses to speak in diplomatic Aramaic. He addresses the people on the wall in their own language, mocking their king and promising each of them their own vine and fig tree.

Empires try to separate a people from its leaders.

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The Bible offers several explanations for Jerusalem's escape: an angel struck the Assyrian camp, a rumor of Egyptian help, or a huge tribute payment. Herodotus tells of mice overrunning an Assyrian camp. Whatever happened, the city survived, battered.

Bible reference: 2 Kings 18

Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 101–102

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