Image Details

“Then Pul King of Assyria invaded the land” (2 Kings 15:19). Sometimes called by his Babylonian name, Pulu, or his Biblical name, Pul, Tiglath-pileser III led three major campaigns into Syria and Palestine in 734 (left arrow, below), 733 (center arrow) and 732 B.C.E. (right arrow). The king’s records describe the results of his siege: “Israel … all its inhabitants [and] their possessions, I led to Assyria.” Archaeological evidence indicates that the Israelite sites remained abandoned until the late sixth to early fifth century B.C.E., when Phoenicians from the Mediterranean coast began to move into the area.