Siege Ramp

View looking north northeast at the "siege ramp" built by the Assyrians in 701 B.C. when Sennacherib laid siege to the city of Lachish.

This ramp was constructed of about 15,000 tons of stone and was about 180 ft. [55 m.] long [from top to bottom].  The Assyrians pushed their battering ramps up this ramp to the top, where they pounded at, picked at, the wall that surrounded Lachish.  Actually, the Judeans built a counter ramp on the inside of the city to blunt the attack of the Assyrians.  The attack and counter attack is depicted visually on the reliefs from Sennacherib's Palace in Nineveh (now in the British Museum).

For a brief description of Lachish and its biblical significance and a map Click Here.