Fugitives crowd the narrow river crossings at the bottom of a massive ravine. The Arnon River cuts a deep trench across the plateau of Moab. People drive their remaining livestock from southern outposts toward Judean territory. Assyrian military campaigns push down the eastern trade routes and dismantle the agrarian economy in their path.
Imperial records from Nineveh detail campaigns by Tiglath-Pileser III across the Levant region around 732 b.c. The invading forces extract heavy tributes from local rulers and displace entire populations. The Arnon gorge spans 42 miles and drops 1,600 feet into the earth. This chasm creates a brutal physical barrier for anyone fleeing the northern agricultural centers of Heshbon and Elealeh.
The northern plains once supported extensive vineyards and summer fruit harvests. Assyrian siege tactics involve uprooting orchards and burning fields to starve out resisting populations. Refugees abandon the ruined agricultural terraces and press southward through the arid terrain. They seek shelter in Sela. This remote fortress sits high on sheer cliffs and offers a brief illusion of security.
Security vanishes when empires redraw the borders of the world.
The imperial war machine redraws those borders with iron weapons and fire. Survivors from the river crossings eventually reach the gates of Jerusalem. They arrive as stateless beggars asking for asylum from a Judean king. This local ruler must calculate the political cost of harboring enemies of the Assyrian state. He knows the imperial army will inevitably turn its weapons toward his own walls.