Jerusalem continued to swell in population as the Assyrians strengthened and conquered. People fled their villages and moved behind the walled city. This urbanization forced Jerusalem to expand at a rapid rate. Part of the reason for Assyria’s success was the fact that they changed from their native tongue, and adopted Aramaic as their official language. This was beneficial because it was simpler and easier to not only learn, but also use. The king of Jerusalem, Hezekiah, brought more water to his city by way of Hezekiah’s tunnel. Without this tunnel the city would have no real water source.
Hezekiah is credited with the defeat of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. This greatly added to Jerusalem’s growing fame and reputation, that it held out against and defeated the mighty Assyrian warriors. After Hezekiah, the next king is Josiah, and he finds the book and religious reforms. Josiah took control when he was only eight years old, this makes many historians believe that for the most part he was a puppet ruler at the beginning of his reign with the elders and advisors pulling the strings behind the city.
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