The Assyrians ruled much of the Middle East from their capital, Nineveh, located on the east bank of the Tigris River near Mosul in northern Iraq.
In approximately 701 BCE, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of the Kingdom of Judah in a campaign of subjugation. Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem but failed to capture it — it is the only city mentioned as being besieged on Sennacherib's Stele, of which the capture is not mentioned.

However, clearly depicted in a surviving bas relief from the ruins of Sennacherib's southwest palace, is a fascinating illustration of three (possibly Jewish or maybe Phoenician?) captives, being marched by an Assyrian solider, who is forcing them to sing a song, accompanied by their lyres.

This piece is my own imaginative evocation of the sort of melody the lamenting captives of Sennacherib depicted in this illustration might have played...