Sennacherib was assassinated in 681 BCE.
Sennacherib ( Akkadian : Sîn-ahhī-erība , `` Sîn has replaced the brothers '' ; [ ܣܝܢܚܪܝܒ , Sīnḥārīḇ ] pronounced in Modern Hebrew [ / sanχeːˈʁiv / ] or in some Mizrahi dialects [ / sanħeːˈʁiv ] ) was the king of Assyria from 705 BCE to 681 BCE . He was assassinated in obscure circumstances in 681 BCE , apparently by his eldest son ( his designated successor , Esarhaddon , was the youngest ) . The primary preoccupation of his reign was the so-called `` Babylonian problem '' , the refusal of the Babylonians to accept Assyrian rule , culminating in his destruction of the city in 689 BCE .