{"id":19399,"date":"2016-02-23T10:18:11","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T09:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/?p=19399"},"modified":"2016-11-03T16:25:49","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T15:25:49","slug":"storming-of-lachish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/storming-of-lachish.html","title":{"rendered":"The Giants of Lachish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-20794 size-full\" title=\"The fall of Lachish, King Sennacherib reviews Judaean prisoners. --- By Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=42128579 \" src=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lakish-siege-bataille-relief-688po.jpg\" alt=\"lakish-siege-bataille-relief-688po\" width=\"688\" height=\"413\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The Siege of Lachish, which takes place in -701, opposed the Assyrian army under King Sennacherib vs the kingdom of Judah. \u200b\u200bThe victory was Assyrian and the inhabitants of Lachish massacred or deported.<\/em><br \/><em>This victory was carved in low relief that adorned the walls of the palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh. These reliefs are now on display at the British Museum in London.&#8221;<\/em> <em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Si%C3%A8ge_de_Lakish\" target=\"_blank\">(source)<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>More importantly, these reliefs bring us evidence galore.<\/p>\n<p>The kingdom of Judah, then vassal of the Assyrian empire, refused to pay taxes and manifested the desire for independence. The reaction of Assyria was immediate: Sennacherib&#8217;s\u00a0army surrounded the Judean city of Lachish.<\/p>\n<p>This battle is exciting in more ways than one. First, it depicts <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/senacherib-assurbanipal-clay-tablets-cuneiform-writings-encyclopedia-the-assyrian-source.html\">the Assyrian king Sennacherib<\/a>, an encyclopedic. He\u00a0appears here in warlord, although\u00a0he was probably the most educated king of the\u00a0time. He did collect thousands of ancient inscriptions, so as to constitute a bank\u00a0of the knowledge and the past of the world, an <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/senacherib-assurbanipal-clay-tablets-cuneiform-writings-encyclopedia-the-assyrian-source.html\">encyclopedia<\/a> of the age when gods walked among men.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;When they reached the city, the attackers proposed surrender of its inhabitants with alleged leniency. The Judeans refused, the Assyrian army began encircling the city. But the Assyrians were more likely to assail\u00a0cities than to wait\u00a0for months down the walls. The archers, protected by large size shields, advanced towards the walls, and aimed defenders on their walls. This allowed the siege engines to come forward.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>According to the reliefs, they were made of one or two rams topped by a wooden tower manned by archers, all on four wheels advancing on an assault ramp (discovered in 1970 by David Ussishkin ) made of earth and covered with stone slabs. The craft was protected from\u00a0flaming arrows by moistened skins of beasts. At the same time another assault was given by infantry equipped with ladders, supported by other archers and slingers.&#8221;<\/em> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Si%C3%A8ge_de_Lakish\" target=\"_blank\">(source)<br \/><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The archers&#8217;\u00a0shields were\u00a0large to better protect, of course. But also because the archers were large themselves.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-20776 size-full\" title=\"La bataille de Lakish -- photo kevincellis36109 --- KCE Lachish Flay --- CC BY-SA 2.0 --- https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/36339698@N00\/17212825941\" src=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lakish-relief-688po.jpg\" alt=\"lakish-relief-688po\" width=\"688\" height=\"413\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now have a close look to this relief. Warriors of very different sizes are on display. At least three formats, so to speak. Smaller formats could well be children. They are dressed and armed like warriors, which excludes nothing, because children have always fought wars over the ancient times &#8211; and modern, for\u00a0the barbarians. The children always fight on foot, on\u00a0the front line. Cannon fodder, their vocation is to protect the experienced soldiers walking behind. Hence the name of infantry, children&#8217;s army.<\/p>\n<p>Except for the infantry, the relief shows medium-sized\u00a0and double-sized adults. One can invoke the rules of the modern perspective, which represent smaller more distant characters, but those rules were not in use\u00a0at that distant time. The experts&#8217; explanation is that powerful people are major sized, while\u00a0their servants are smaller. The size of the figures indicate their importance, their social status. It is farfetched, presumably to make them grow faster. I think it is appropriate to take these images for what they are: realistic representations of what really happened. This is indeed the giants walking among men.<\/p>\n<p>The middle sized are\u00a0Assyrian warriors recognizable by their warhead helmet, holding two giants\u00a0by\u00a0the ankles. The giants seem to fly, or rather to take flight. They are prevented by the solid handles that seized\u00a0their ankles. How do they fly? They outstretched arms, but do not have wings, nor any apparatus so. Do they master gravity? In any case, their existence is attested by Zoroastrianism, very ancient religion of the god <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/mazdeism-zarathustra-parsis-persepolis-nemruddag.html\">Ahura Mazda<\/a>, we should write Ahu Ram Ase Da, an Aesir god who bore the title of Ram, the Aries\u00a0of Hyperborea, heading an <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/mazdeism-zarathustra-parsis-persepolis-nemruddag.html\">army of flying giants<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some mainline reserchers sought another interpretation to this curious scene. Here it is: the Assyrian soldiers are actually tearing the skin of\u00a0two Hebrew captives. Incredulous amazement. One\u00a0really needs much imagination to see that. Along with\u00a0little observation!!<\/p>\n<p>It is true that the flying giants are naked, but obviously not skinned. Otherwise, the soldiers would tear\u00a0their skin, instead of shaking their ankles.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-20777 size-full\" title=\"La bataille de Lakish -- photo kevincellis36109 --- KCE Lachish Flay --- CC BY-SA 2.0 --- https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/36339698@N00\/17212825941\" src=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lakish-fresque-aux-geants-688px.jpg\" alt=\"lakish-fresque-aux-geants-688px\" width=\"688\" height=\"502\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Flying giants are not the only giants\u00a0on this relief. We also note a standing giant, surrounded by infantry. This giant does not fly, he\u00a0carries a large stone block. It must be\u00a0one of these stones with which the Assyrians paved\u00a0the access road for\u00a0their rams.<\/p>\n<p>I also see evidence that the former\u00a0giants were used as porters on many occasions, especially for the huge stones in\u00a0cyclopean walls or pyramids. The tradition says that the giants have brought them, and this relief gives us visual confirmation. So the construction of the Egyptian pyramids or Cuzco walls find an explanation of common sense.<\/p>\n<p>About ram that seems common use among the Assyrians, I find\u00a0a striking confirmation of a vision I&#8217;d had on the Trojans. <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/mythologies-homer-aede-ram-aries-era-of-ram-second-atlantis-odyssey-of-rama.html\">Homer was a bard<\/a>, a kind of comic trooper who was doing stand-up in pubs. Entertainer of the common people, Homer was inspired to write <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/odyssey-illiad-ulysses-homer-rama-ramayana-ramadan.html\">his Odyssey and Iliad<\/a>, by a sacred history. That of the god Ram, how he conquered the Mediterranean countries, the East and throughout Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Homer distorted the whole story, mocked the god Mars, ridiculed the thousands of deaths, with a total lack of respect and\u00a0delicacy. Derisively, he invented the farce of a large wooden horse in which Greek soldiers hid themselves, and these stupid Trojans have unwisely entered into their walled city.<\/p>\n<p>I never believed in this farce, and I was right. Do not look for giant horse. A ram entered the city. It\u00a0is actually a huge beam that Ram troops launched the city gates or walls to smash them. This arm\u00a0belonging to Ram, was naturally decorated with a ram&#8217;s head. Hence the name.<\/p>\n<p>Ram, horse, Homer had fun, but the original version was not suitable to laugh, hence\u00a0the wrath of the great Heraclitus, who claimed the whip to Homer.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to\u00a0these rams mounted on mobile towers and driven on paved roads built for the occasion, and also thanks to their flying giants, Assyrians entered the city. They massacred men, deported the women and children.<\/p>\n<p>Seven centuries ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/thutmose-pharaoh-of-exodus.html\">pharaoh Tuthmosis<\/a> had taken the fortress of Masada, but he had kept massacring men. The Egyptians deported all the Hebrew people, enslaved abroad until <a href=\"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/ark-of-the-covenant-electric-capacitor-how-to-use-it.html\">Moses<\/a> break their chains.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Assyrian relief displays flying giants<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2239],"tags":[312,2603,125,2601,2602,2600,1423],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19399"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21140,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19399\/revisions\/21140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}