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Erich Lessing

In 701 B.C.E., after capturing 46 cities in Judah, Sennacherib implemented a uni-directional deportation of thousands of Judahites to Assyria. By that time, the waves of earlier immigrants were beginning to have a noticeable effect on Assyrian society. Personal names with likely Israelite roots were mentioned in Assyrian annals, and even Sennacherib’s ambassador, the Rabshakeh (see “The Rabshakeh Comes to Jerusalem”;), was very possibly an Israelite himself.