Assyrian downfall through Isaiah’s eyes (2 Kings 15–23) 13 36,2 — “the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field” — the final redactors of the book of Isaiah deliberately created the links between Is 36–37 and Is 7 in order to connect Hezekiah’s story with Achaz’s story (34). No such link exists in 2 Kgs. However, there are several markers that allow us to connect Hezekiah’s story (2 Kgs 18–20) with the fall of Samaria (2 Kgs 17) (35). First, a short passage describing the end of Samaria inserted in the middle of Hezekiah’s story (2 Kgs 18,9-12) constitutes a clear indication that the writers wanted the readers to see Hezekiah’s story in connection with the fall of Samaria (36). Second, Sennacherib’s and Shalmaneser’s invasions are directed against two capitals, Jerusalem and Samaria respectively. Third, both invasions are described in 2 Kgs not only in the annalistic style but they also offer religious interpretations of the events. Fourth, in both stories there are also the warnings to Judah: in the story of the fall of Samaria Judah is threatened with ending up like Samaria (2 Kgs 17,13.18.19) and in Hezekiah’s story Isaiah predicts the end of Judah (2 Kgs 20,16-19). Thus, it stands to reason that we should read 2 Kgs 18–19 (the victory of the Lord and the fall of Sennacherib) as a parallel to 2 Kgs 17 (the victory of Assyria and the fall of Samaria). With both examples the writers illustrate the fall of an important kingdom. The kingdom of Israel fell because of its sins; the Assyrian Empire fell because of its hubris. VI. Conclusion – the historiography of representation To conclude let us sum up the results of the foregoing analysis. First, I have demonstrated that the overall biblical picture of Assyrian expansion does not correspond to the picture reconstructed from the Neo-Assyrian sources. This “distortion” of the historical picture was caused by presenting the events from a specific — Judahite — point of view. (34) C. HARDMEIER, Prophetie im Streit vor dem Untergang Judas. Erzählkommunikative Studien zur Enstehungssituation der Jesaja- und Jeremiaerzählungen in II Reg 18-20 und Jer 37-40 (Berlin – New York 1990) 88-119. (35) This does not mean that the story could not be connected with other biblical passages; see for example a connection with Zedekiah in E. BEN-ZVI, “Malleability and Its Limits: Sennacherib’s Campaign against Judah as a Case Study”, “Like a Bird in a Cage”: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE, (ed. L.L. GRABBE) (London – New York 2003) 84-85. (36) This note is missing in the book of Isaiah.