Garo Nalbandian

The siege ramp built at Lachish in 701 B.C. by the Assyrian army under Sennacherib still stands to a height of 40 feet today. The site guarded Judah’s southwestern flank and fell to the Assyrians during the same campaign that would see Jerusalem besieged. Lachish’s defenders desperately built a counter-ramp inside the city’s walls to deflect the attackers, but the Assyrians were able to wheel a battering ram up the ramp and break through the defenses.