Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Taken by Sargon, king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24; 18:34; 19:13; Isa. 37:13). It was a double city, and received the common name Sepharvaim, i.e., “the two Sipparas,” or “the two booktowns.” The Sippara on the east bank of the Euphrates is now called Abu-Habba; that on the other bank was Accad, the old capital of Sargon I., where he established a great library. (See SARGON.) The recent discovery of cuneiform inscriptions at Tel el-Amarna in
Egypt, consisting of official despatches to Pharaoh Amenophis IV. and his predecessor from their agents in Palestine, proves that in the century before the Exodus an active literary intercourse was carried on between these nations, and that the medium of the correspondence was the Babylonian language and script. (See KIRJATH-SEPHER.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(the two Sipparas) is mentioned by Sennacherib in his letter to Hezekiah as a city whose king had been unable to resist the Assyrians. (2 Kings 19:13; Isaiah 37:13) comp. 2Kin 18:34 It is identified with the famous town of Sippara., on the Euphrates above Babylon, which was near the site of the modern Mosaib. The dual form indicates that there were two Sipparas, one on either side of the river. Berosus celled Sippara “a city of the sun;” and
in the inscriptions it bears the same title, being called Tsipar sha Shamas, or “Sippara of the Sun”—the sun being the chief object of worship there. Comp. (2 Kings 17:31)
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
SEPHARVA'IM (the two Sipparas, one being on each side of the river), a place in Assyria from whence colonists came into Israel or Samaria. 2 Kgs 17:24; 2 Kgs 18:34; 2 Kgs 19:13; Isa 36:19; Ps 37:13. Rawlinson and others have proposed to identify it with Sippara, a town on the Euphrates, between Hit and Babylon. It was built on both sides of the Euphrates, or of the canal, and the one was called Sipar-sa-Samas - i.e., "consecrated to Samas, the
sun-god ;" the other was called Sipar-sa-Anunit, "consecrated to the goddess Anunit." On the monuments it is called "Sippara of the Sun." It had a library, probably similar to that found at Nineveh, which has been deciphered by George Smith and others. The modern town Mosaib now stands near its site.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
the two books; the two scribes