A further record of Sargon’s bearing upon the text of the Old Testament will be found in the Assyrian Room in wall case No. 9. Exhibits 1-11 are fragments of an eight-sided cylinder containing part of the records of Sargon, particularly recording the campaign against Ashdod, which is also preserved for us by Isaiah in the twentieth chapter, verse one. The people of Ashdod had made a league with Judah and this outburst of Isaiah’s was a stern reproof against this procedure. The prophet objected chiefly because the league depended upon the strength of Egypt. To the end of his life, Isaiah never gave up his justified distrust of that country. This, in a brief summary, presents the records of Shalmaneser and Sargon as they authenticate the Biblical account of the conduct of the wretched So. Sargon recounts that Azuri, who was king of Ashdod, had refused to pay the tribute that was due to the Assyrians. Consequently he was deposed by Sargon, who elevated his brother Akhimiti to the place of dominion. Whereupon the people of Ashdod rebelled and raised Yamini to the throne. They then entered into a conspiracy with Philistea, Edom, Moab, Egypt, and Judah. Sargon recounts their defeat and the bringing back under the sway of his yoke the cities and peoples who joined the conspiracy. A graphic and significant story is contained in the brief and short words of Sargon’s own record—“Samaria, I looked at. I captured. 27,280 families who remained therein I carried away.” The tragic end of Hoshea and all of his noble counselors and advisers is thus summed up in a brief and terrible sentence. Sargon the Second was followed in turn by Sennacherib, of whom a great deal is known from his monuments. Their testimony coincides with the story of the Southern Kingdom during the reign of Hezekiah. Three years after the ascension of Hoshea to the throne of Israel, Hezekiah began to reign over Judah at Jerusalem. He had a long and interesting reign, occupying the throne for twenty-five years. In the course of his reign, Sargon the Second died, and Sennacherib inherited the throne. Encouraged by the success of his predecessor Sargon in foreign campaigns, Sennacherib invaded Judah to round out his empire. Hezekiah accepted his yoke without offering resistance, and paid him a vast tribute. We are now in the eighteenth chapter of II Kings which repeats part of the events of the tragedy in Israel as they were observed by the scribe in Judah. The invasions of Shalmaneser and Sargon are recapitulated and the carrying away of the people of Samaria by Sargon is again authenticated. But the scribe is more interested in recording the events that make so stirring a chapter in the closing days of the kingdom of Judah. In verses thirteen to seventeen, the story of this first invasion and the surrender of Sennacherib, is told in these words: