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Esarhaddon legitimises his reign by casting himself as the gods' chosen restorer of Babylonian shrines and avenger of Akkad — direct ideological response to his father Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon in 689 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Esarhaddon's justification for Sennacherib's sack of Babylon: the Babylonians themselves broke divine law — selling Esagil's treasures to Elam — so the gods, not Assyria, destroyed the city.