In earlier chapters, I have been careful so far to avoid suggesting that the Kushite-Egyptian success took the form of an outright (as distinct from de facto) “victory” or “triumph”: such terms would assume that after the clash at Eltekeh a major battle (or battles) took place that produced a decisive military outcome for the pharaonic army. I subscribe to the near-unanimous view1 that, sometime well after Eltekeh, the Assyrians brought their campaign to a halt before any such major confrontation involving Sen-nacherib’s main body of troops necessarily took place. There is simply no evidence
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