Sepharvaim

Sepharvaim (סְפַרְוָיִם) was a city mentioned in the Bible as being captured by the Assyrians. It was taken by a king of Assyria, probably Sargon II, cited in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 17:24, 31; 18:34; 19:13; and Isaiah 37:13). It was a double city, and received the common name Sepharvaim, i.e., "the two Sipparas", or "the two booktowns".

The Sippar on the east bank of the Euphrates is now called Abu-Habba; that on the other bank was Akkad, the old capital of Sargon I, where he established a great library. The recent discovery of cuneiform inscriptions at Amarna in Egypt, consisting of official despatches to Pharaoh Amenophis IV. and his predecessor from their agents in Canaan, leads some Egyptologists to conclude that an active literary intercourse was carried on between these nations, and that the medium of the correspondence was the Akkadian language language and script. (See Kirjath Sepher.)

Sepharvaim was the center of the worship of the god Adrammelech. They also worshipped the god Anammelech. After the deportation of the Israelites to Assyria, at least some of the residents of this city were brought to Samaria to repopulate it with other Gentile settlers.