Later in 702 BC Nineveh became capital of Assyria, and this was during the reign of king Sennacherib. A carving found at Kouyunjik shows the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal enjoying a picnic in his garden while the severed head of his enemy, the Elamite king Teumman, swings from the branches of … Sennacherib figures prominently in the Old Testament. Other events of his reign which secured his legacy throughout the millennia following his death include his de… Nineveh soon became one of the largest cities of the ancient Near East.

Sennacherib, Akkadian Sin-akhkheeriba, (died January 681 bce, Nineveh [now in Iraq]), king of Assyria (705/704–681 bce), son of Sargon II. He made Nineveh his capital, building a new palace, extending and beautifying the city, and erecting inner and outer city walls that still stand. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is among the most famous of all Assyrian kings due to the role he played in the Old Testament of the Bible, which describes his campaign in the Levant. Sennacherib (Assyrian: Sîn-ahhī-erība or Sîn-aḥḥē-erība, meaning "Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705 BC to his own death in 681 BC. The texts of these copies are more or less consistent and goes back to one original, which was based on the list of yearly limmu-officials, who were appointed by the king and had to preside the celebration of the New Year festival. Incomplete lists of Assyrian kings have been discovered in each of Assyria's three capitals: Aššur, Dur-Šarukkin, and Nineveh.There are also two fragments. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser reveals King Jehu of Israel paying tribute to him.