Sargon II
Sargon II ruled the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 to 705 BCE, founded the Sargonid dynasty, and built a new royal capital at Dur-Sharrukin.
Fall of Samaria: The Assyrian conquest of Samaria that ended the northern Kingdom of Israel in the late eighth century BCE. Sargon claimed the capture of Samaria as a major achievement of his early reign.
Neo-Assyrian Empire: The phase of Assyrian imperial power that dominated the Near East from the tenth to seventh centuries BCE. Sargon ruled during its expansionist peak and relied on its military-administrative institutions.
Dur-Sharrukin: The fortified city founded by Sargon II as a new Assyrian royal capital, near modern Khorsabad. Sargon built this planned capital to monumentalize his kingship and establish a dynastic center.
Shalmaneser V: The Assyrian king who ruled immediately before Sargon II, from 727 to 722 BCE. Sargon’s accession followed Shalmaneser’s deposition or death, whose circumstances remain uncertain.
Sargon II’s death: The death of Sargon II during a campaign in 705 BCE, after which his body was not recovered. The loss of his body may help explain the unusual absence of a royal burial at home.
Deportation policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire: The systematic relocation of conquered populations within the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Sargon used deportations to consolidate control over newly conquered territories.
Sargonid dynasty: The dynasty founded by Sargon II that ruled Assyria until the empire’s fall in 609 BCE. His reign began the ruling line that included Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal.
Sargon II’s eighth campaign: Sargon II’s campaign against Urartu in 714 BCE, described in a royal account known as the Letter to God. The account presents his most celebrated expedition and a major victory over Urartu.
Sargon of Akkad: The legendary founder of the Akkadian Empire, who ruled Mesopotamia in the third millennium BCE. Sargon II adopted a name evoking an ancient conqueror, though the two kings lived millennia apart.
Sargon II’s accession: Sargon II’s rise to the Assyrian throne in 722 BCE, whose precise circumstances are uncertain. His origins and relationship to the preceding royal line remain disputed.