account The story of the Assyrian siege is told in the biblical books of Isaiah (7th century BCE), Second Kings (mid-6th century BCE) and Chronicles (c. 350–300 BCE). As the Assyrians began their invasion, King Hezekiah began preparations to protect Jerusalem. In an effort to deprive the Assyrians of water, springs outside the city were blocked. Workers then dug a 533-meter tunnel to the Spring of Gihon, providing the city with fresh water. Additional siege preparations included fortification of the existing walls, construction of towers, and the erection of a new reinforcing wall. Hezekiah gathered the citizens in the square and encouraged them by reminding them that the Assyrians possessed only "an arm of flesh", but the Judeans had the protection of Yahweh. According to 2 Kings 18, while Sennacherib was besieging Lachish, he received a message from Hezekiah offering to pay tribute in exchange for Assyrian withdrawal. According to the Hebrew Bible, Hezekiah paid 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold to Assyria—a price so heavy that he was forced to empty the temple and royal treasury of silver and strip the gold from the doorposts of Solomon's Temple. Nevertheless, Sennacherib marched on Jerusalem with a large army. When the Assyrian force arrived, its field commander Rabshakeh brought a message from Sennacherib. In an attempt to demoralize the Judeans, the field commander announced to the people on the city walls that Hezekiah was deceiving them, and that Yahweh could not deliver Jerusalem from the king of Assyria. He listed the gods of other peoples defeated by Sennacherib then asked, "Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me?" During the siege, Hezekiah dressed in sackcloth (a sign of mourning), but the prophet Isaiah assured him that the city would be delivered and Sennacherib would fail. According to Isaiah, an angel then killed 185,000 Assyrian troops overnight. Some scholars believe this number has been transcribed incorrectly, with one study suggesting the number was originally 5,180. Another scholar advises that the biblical narrative is marked by legendary embellishments that end with a miracle that saves Jerusalem. While Isaiah 36-37 and 2 Kings 18:13-19:37 emphasize the intervention of Yahweh in saving Jerusalem, other biblical texts reveal the horrors inflicted on Judeans outside of Jerusalem during the Assyrian campaign and the devastation wrought on towns and villages throughout the Judean countryside. The territory