Esarhaddon

King of Assyria 681-669 BC.

    Esarhaddon was the son of King *Sennacherib and he came into conflict with *Taharka, King of Egypt; details of his campaign against Egypt (which followed his subjugation of Syria) are preserved in cuneiform texts on stelae and tablets.

    It is reported that he besieged Memphis and destroyed it, driving *Taharka back to the south. Booty and people were carried away from Egypt, and Esarhaddon introduced the policy of appointing new rulers, governors and officials to replace those whom he mistrusted. The newly appointed included *Necho of Sais who later became a king of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. *Taharka was able briefly to repossess Memphis when Esarhaddon died as he set out on a new campaign, but the next *Assyrian ruler, *Ashurbanipal, regained the city in 662 BC and brought in new governors and officials to replace Esarhaddon's men who had fled from Memphis.

BIBL. Borger, R. Die Inschriften Asarhaddons Konigs von Assyrien. Osnabruck: 1967; Pritchard, J.B. (Ed.) ANET 1969, Babylonian Chronicle, 292-4, 302-3.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David