Extra-Biblical Evidences of Biblical Persons and/or Events: The Taylor Prism

The Taylor Prism (691 BC/BCE) s one of three red clay six-sided prisms, all inscribed with the same Akkadian inscription written in cuneiform characters.  The Taylor Prism is in the British Museum, while the two Sennacherib prisms are located in the Israel Museum (Jerusalem) and in the Oriental Institute of Chicago.

Sin-ahhi-eriba (the Biblical Sennacherib), was the son of Sargon II and ruled Assyria 705-681 BC/BCE.  The Taylor Prism and its two sisters present the king's version of the events related in 2 Kings 17:17;  2 Chronicles 32:9;  and the 33rd and 36th chapters of the book of Isaiah.  The event described is Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem in 701 BC/BCE during the reign of King Hezekiah.  Sennacherib destroyed forty-six cities in Judah and deported 200,150 people.  King Hezekiah was forced to pay tribute (including several of his daughters) to the Assyrian monarch.  (Another extra-biblical mention of the event is in the writings of the historian Herodotus.)

The Taylor Prism was acquired by Colonel R. Taylor in 1830 in Baghdad after having been found earlier in the ruins of Ninevah, the ancient capital of Assyria.  Colonel Taylor's widow sold the prism to the British Museum in 1855.

To read more about the prisms, see these links:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/t/the_taylor_prism.aspx 

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/prism.html 

http://www.scholarofgod.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:sennacherib-prism&catid=40:biblical-archaeology&Itemid=57