Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Taken by Sargon, king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24; 18:34; 19:13; Isa. 37:13). , where he established a great library. ) 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.
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. , 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.
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 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