Here are a couple points that help flesh out the historical events.
(1) The following information concerning the Pharaoh Taharqa is also confirmed by Sennacherib's Prism and the Bible.
Sennacherib Prism
"The officials, nobles, and people of Ekron, who had thrown Padi their king—bound by oath and curse of Assyria— into fetters of iron and had given him over to Hezekiah, the Judahite—he kept him in confinement like an enemy—their heart became afraid, and they called upon the
Egyptian kings, the bowmen, chariots and horses of
the king of Meluhha [Ethiopia], a countless host, and these
came to their aid. In the neighborhood of Eltekeh, their ranks being drawn up before me, they offered battle. With the aid of Aššur, my lord, I fought with them and brought about their defeat.
The Egyptian charioteers and princes, together with the Ethiopian king's charioteers, my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle. Eltekeh and Timnah I besieged, I captured, and I took away their spoil.
The word "Meluhha" is the Assyrian name for Kush\Cush.
The Bible reports:
"Now Sennacherib received a report that
Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:" (NIV, 2 Kings 19:9).
"Now Sennacheribab received a report that
Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:" (NIV, Isaiah 37:9).
Shoshenq I was the first Pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty of Egypt. He is mentioned in the Bible by the name Shishak (also spelled Shishaq). "Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death" (1 Kings 11:4). "In the fifth year...
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(2) There is another inscription concerning Hezekiah besides the Sennacherib Prism, and it is the Bull inscription. Seen here:
Gypsum slab in two pieces: bearing an inscription written in cuneiform script, from under stomach of sculpture of human-headed winged-bull. The beginning of the inscription was carved on the pair of human-headed winged bulls which flanked the main entrance to the throne room of Sennacherib.
www.britishmuseum.org
It is called the Bull inscription because it was found "from under stomach of sculpture of human-headed winged-bull."
Part of the inscription read:
"
The tough and powerful Hezekiah, its [i.e. Judah's] king, I brought to submission at my feet."
That is a remarkable statement. In his monograph (
Hezekiah in History and Tradition, p. 85) Robb Andrew Young states:
"For an Assyrian king to bestow such an accolade upon an enemy
is extremely unusual, and diametrically opposed to the enterprise of imperial propaganda."
In other words, Hezekiah was no joke, high praise from Sennacherib himself. No doubt it was Hezekiah thoughtful preparation for defending Jerusalem (because he listen to the word of the LORD ), that saved Jerusalem and the nation of Judah from total defeat.
"Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel.
There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And
the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him" (2 Kings 18:6-8).
