~695 BCE·Neo-AssyrianEditorial
Sennacherib's Annals (Taylor Prism)
One of the rare cuneiform texts that explicitly cross-references the Hebrew Bible: the same historical event narrated by both sides. The Taylor Prism gives us the Assyrian view of a moment the biblical authors framed as divine deliverance. It is also a masterpiece of imperial propaganda — the prismatic shape allows the text to be read on six faces, the cuneiform is meticulous, the rhetoric calibrated to terrify potential rebels.
Writing & Literature·Law