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{{Infobox monarch
| name        = Sargon II
| title = [[List of Assyrian kings|King of Assyria, Babylonia, Akkad and Sumer]]
| image       = Sargon II and dignitary.jpg
| caption     = Sargon II with a dignitary, bas-relief from [[Dur-Sharrukin|Khorsabad]].
| reign = 722 –  705 BC
| predecessor = [[Shalmaneser V]]
| successor   = [[Sennacherib]]
| birth_date   = c. 765 BC
| birth_place  = [[Kalhu]]
| death_date   = 705 BC (aged 59–60)
| death_place  = lost in battle against the [[Tabal]] kingdom in [[Anatolia]]
| spouse          = Ra'īma<br /> Atalyā
| issue = [[Sennacherib]]<br /> Aḥāt-Abīšā<br /> At least 2 other sons
| dynasty         = [[Sargonid dynasty]]
| father          = [[Tiglath-Pileser III]]
| mother          = [[Yabā]]/[[Banītu]]}}

'''Sargon II''' ([[Akkadian language|Assyrian]] {{lang|akk| ''Šarru-ukīn'' (LUGAL-GI.NA 𒈗𒄀𒈾)}}; Aramaic  {{lang|oar|סרגן }};<ref>References to Sargon II are mostly spelled logographically, as  LUGAL-GI.NA or LUGAL-GIN, but occasional phonetic spelling in ''ú-kin '' appears to support the form ''Šarru-ukīn'' over  ''Šarru-kēn(u)'' (based on a single spelling in ''-ke-e-nu'' found in Khorsabad). The name of the Old Assyrian king [[Sargon I]] is spelled as LUGAL-''ke-en'' or LUGAL-''ki-in'' in king lists. In addition to the Biblical form (סרגון), the Hebrew spelling סרגן has been found in an inscription in [[Khorsabad]], suggesting that the name in the Neo-Assyrian period might have been pronounced ''Sar(ru)gīn'', the voicing representing a regular development in Neo-Assyrian. Eckart Frahm, "Observations on the Name and Age of Sargon II and on Some Patterns of Assyrian Royal Onomastics", ''NABU'' 2005.2, 46–50.</ref> reigned 722–705 BC) was an [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]]n king.
A son of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]], he came to power relatively late in life, possibly by usurping the throne from his older brother, [[Shalmaneser V]]. Sargon II suppressed rebellions, conquered the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], and, in 710 BC, conquered [[Babylon]], thus reuniting Assyria with its southern rival, [[Babylonia]], from which it had been separate since after the death of [[Hammurabi]] in 1750 BC.

The Neo-Assyrian pronunciation of the name was presumably    /sargi:n(u)/ or /sarga:n(u)/;  the spelling ''Sargon'' is based on the Biblical form of the name (סרגון), mentioned in Isaiah 20:1.<ref>[http://biblehub.com/hebrew/5623.htm 5623. Sargon], ''[[Strong's Concordance]]''.</ref>
The [[regnal number]] is modern, applied for disambiguation from the Old Assyrian king [[Sargon I]] and the still-older Akkadian ruler [[Sargon of Akkad|Sargon the Elder]].

== Early reign ==
Sargon II was a son of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] and appears to have seized the throne from his brother, [[Shalmaneser V]] in a violent coup.<ref name=tbm>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/s/sargon_ii,_king_of_assyria_72.aspx|title="Sargon II, King of Assyria (721-705 BC)", The British Museum|publisher=}}</ref> Sargon was already middle-aged when he came to the throne, and was assisted by his son, the crown prince, [[Sennacherib]].<ref name=Radner>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/kings/sargonii/ Radner, Karen "Sargon II, king of Assyria (721-705 BC)", ''Assyrian empire builders'', University College London, 2012]</ref> Sargon's brother, Sinahusur, served as his [[grand vizier]].<ref name=oiuc/>

== Military campaigns ==
[[File:Palace of Khorsabad.png|Palace of Khorsabad|thumb|right|290px|Palace of [[Dur-Sharrukin]].]]
Sargon was beset with widespread rebellions by the beginning of his rule. [[Marduk-apla-iddina II]], a chieftain of the Chaldean tribes in the marshes of the south, declared himself king of Babylon and was crowned king in 721 BC. In 720 BC, Sargon and Marduk-apla-iddina met in battle on the plains east of Babylon, near the city of [[Der (Sumer)|Der]]. Marduk-apla-iddina was supported by the Elamite king [[Humban-Nikash I]]. The Elamite troops were able to push back the Assyrian army, and he retained control of the south and the title of king of Babylon.<ref name=Radner/> The three kings concluded a treaty to stabilize their relationship, a [[détente]] that would last ten years.<ref name=Melville>Melville, Sarah "The Campaigns of Sargon II, King of Assyria, 721-705 B.C.", University of Oklahoma, 2016</ref>

In 717 BC, the [[Syro-Hittite]] city of [[Carchemish]] on the Upper [[Euphrates]] rebelled. Carchemish was a small kingdom situated at an important Euphrates crossing. Sargon violated existing treaties in attacking the city, but with the wealth seized was able to continue to fund his army.<ref name=Radner/>

In 716 BC he moved against the [[Mannaeans]], where the ruler Aza, son of [[Iranzu]], had been deposed by Ullusunu with the help of the [[Urartu]]ans. Sargon took the capital Izirtu, and stationed troops in [[Parsuash]] (the original home of the [[Persia]]n tribe, on lake [[Urmia]]) and Kar-Nergal (Kishesim). He built new bases in [[Medes|Media]] as well, the main one being Harhar which he renamed Kar-Sharrukin. In 715 BC, others were to follow: Kar-Nabu, Kar-Sin and Kar-Ishtar — all named after Babylonian gods and resettled by Assyrian subjects.

The eighth campaign of Sargon against [[Urartu]] in 714 BC is well known from a letter from Sargon to the god [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]] (found in the town of [[Assur]], now in the [[Louvre]]) and the ''[[bas-relief]]s'' in the palace of [[Dur-Sharrukin]]. The reliefs show the difficulties of the terrain: the war-chariots had to be dismantled and carried by soldiers (with the king still in the chariot); the letter describes how paths had to be cut into the intractable forests. The campaign was probably motivated by the fact that the Urartians had been weakened by incursions of the [[Cimmerians]], a nomadic [[steppe]] tribe. One Urartian army had been completely annihilated, and the general Qaqqadanu taken prisoner.<ref>The Cimmerians were mentioned a number of times in letters by the crown-prince [[Sennacherib]], who ran his father's intelligence service. They cannot be dated exactly, but are believed to have been composed before 713 BC. The letters relate how Sargon crossed the [[Great Zab]] and the [[Little Zab]] and moved over the mountains of [[Qullar, Barda|Kullar]] in the direction of Lake Urmia, crossing the country of [[Zikirtu]], whose ruler Metatti had fled to Uishdish, the provinces of Surikash, Allabria and parts of [[Parsuash]].</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}
[[File:Tang-i Var 2012, F.Biglari.JPG|thumb|The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var pass near the village of Tang-i Var, [[Hawraman]], Iran]]
After reaching [[Lake Urmia]], he turned east and entered [[Zikirtu]] and Andia on the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] slopes of the [[Caucasus]]. When news reached him that king [[Rusa I]] was moving against him, he turned back to [[Lake Urmia]] in forced marches and defeated a Urartian army in a steep valley of the ''Uaush'' (probably the Sahend, east of [[Lake Urmia]], or further to the south, in [[Mannaeans|Mannaea]] country), a steep mountain that reached the clouds and whose flanks were covered by snow. The battle is described as the usual carnage, but King Rusas managed to escape. The horses of his chariot had been killed by [[Assyria]]n spears, forcing him to ride a mare in order to get away, very unbecoming for a king.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Sargon plundered the fertile lands at the southern and western shore of [[Lake Urmia]], felling orchards and burning the harvest. In the royal resort of Ulhu, the wine-cellar of the [[List of kings of Urartu|Urartian kings]] was plundered; wine was scooped up like water. The [[Assyria]]n army then plundered Sangibuti and marched north to [[Van, Turkey|Van]] without meeting resistance, the people having retreated to their castles or fled into the mountains, having been warned by fire-signals. Sargon claims to have destroyed 430 empty villages.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

After reaching [[Lake Van]], Sargon left [[Urartu]] via Uaiaish. In [[Hubushkia]] he received the tribute of the ''"[[Nairi]]"'' lands. While most of the army returned to [[Assyria]], Sargon went on to sack the Urartian temple of the god [[Ḫaldi|Haldi]] and his wife Bagbartu at [[Musasir]] (Ardini). The loot must have been impressive; its description takes up fifty columns in the letter to Ashur. More than one ton of gold and five tons of silver fell into the hands of the Assyrians; 334,000 objects in total. A relief from Dur-Sharrukin depicted the sack of Musasir as well (which fell into the [[Tigris]] in 1846 when the archaeologist [[Paul-Émile Botta]] was transporting his artifacts to [[Paris]]). Musasir was annexed. Sargon claims to have lost only one charioteer, two horsemen and three couriers on this occasion. King Rusa was said to be despondent when he heard of the loss of Musasir, and fell ill. According to the imperial annals, he took his own life with his own iron sword.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In 713 BC, Sargon stayed at home; his troops took, among others, Karalla, [[Tabal]] and [[Cilicia]]. [[Persian people|Persian]] and [[Medea|Mede]] rulers offered tribute. In 711 BC, [[Gurgum]] was conquered. An uprising in the Philistine city of [[Ashdod]], supported by [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], [[Moab]], [[Edom]] and [[Egypt]], was suppressed, and Philistia became an Assyrian province.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

===Conquest of Israel===

Under his rule, the Assyrians completed the defeat of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]], capturing [[Samaria]] after a siege of three years and exiling the inhabitants. This became the basis of the legends of the [[Lost Ten Tribes]].  According to the [[Bible]], other people were brought to Samaria, the [[Samaritans]], under his predecessor [[Shalmaneser V]] (2 Kings 18). Sargon's name actually appears in the Bible only once, in the [[Book of Isaiah]],<ref>{{Bibleverse|Isaiah|20:1|HE}}</ref> which records the Assyrian capture of [[Ashdod]] in 711 BC.

===Campaign against Babylonia===
In 710 BC Sargon felt safe enough in his rule to move against his [[Babylonia]]n arch-enemy [[Marduk-apla-iddina II]]. One army moved against [[Elam]] and its new king Shutur-Nahhunte II to prevent them from supplying aid to Marduk-apla-iddina; the other, under Sargon himself, proceeded against Babylon. Sargon first moved against Dūr-Athara which he renamed Dūr-Nabû and made the capital of the new province of Gambalu. He then laid siege to Babylon, and Marduk-apla-iddina II fled. Sargon claimed that he entered Babylon at the request of the priests and civil servants.<ref name=Van>[https://www.academia.edu/857590/The_struggle_of_king_Sargon_II_of_Assyria_against_the_Chaldaean_Merodach-Baladan_710-707_B.C._ Van Der Spek, R., "The Struggle of King Sargon II of Assyria Against the Chaldaean Meradoch-Baladan (710-707 BC)", ''Jaarberecht'', No.25, Leiden (1977-78)]</ref> Babylon yielded to Sargon and he was proclaimed king of Babylonia in 710, thus restoring the dual monarchy of Babylonia and Assyria. He remained in Babylon for three years; in 709 BC, he led the new-year procession as king of Babylon.

Marduk-apla-iddina attempted to flee to Elam but the king forbade him entry. Taking hostages from Ur, Uruk, and other towns, he went to his ancestral city of Dūr-Jakin which he further fortified by adding to the walls and digging a canal from the Euphrates to flood the surrounding area. In 709 BC Sargon's troops gained a victory outside the city but could not take Dūr-Jakin, where Marduk-apla-iddina had fled. A negotiated settlement was reached whereby Sargon would spare Marduk-apla-iddina's life provided the city walls were demolished. It is not clear whether they were, since two years later, Sargon returned to take them down himself.<ref name=Van/>

Sargon had his son, crown-prince Sennacherib, married to the Aramean noblewoman [[Naqi'a]], and stayed in the south to pacify the Aramaic and Chaldean tribes of the lower [[Euphrates]] as well as the [[Suti]] nomads. Some areas in Elam were occupied as well.

==Later reign==
In 710 BC, the seven [[Greeks|Greek]] kings of ''Ia''' ([[Cyprus]]) had accepted Assyrian sovereignty; in 709, [[Midas]], king of [[Phrygia]], beset by the nomadic [[Cimmerians]], submitted to Assyrian rule and in 708 BC, Kummuhu ([[Commagene]]) became an Assyrian province. Assyria was at the apogee of its power. Urartu had almost succumbed to the Cimmerians, Elam was weakened, Marduk-apla-iddina II was powerless, and the Egyptian influence in the Levant had been thwarted.

===Building projects===
[[File:Sargon II (left) faces a high-ranking official, possibly Sennacherib his son and crown prince. 710-705 BCE. From Khorsabad, Iraq. The British Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Sargon II (left) faces a high-ranking official, possibly Sennacherib his son and crown prince. 710–705 BC. From Khorsabad, Iraq. The British Museum, London]]
[[File:Human headed winged bull profile.jpg|right|thumb|290px|Human-headed winged bull, found during [[Paul-Émile Botta|Botta's]] excavation.]]
[[File:Lammasu.jpg|290px|right|thumb|A [[lamassu]] from the palace of Sargon II at [[Dur-Sharrukin]].]]
[[Dur-Sharrukin]] ("Fort Sargon") was constructed as a new capital city by Sargon II shortly after he came to the throne in 721 BC.<ref name=oiuc>{{cite web|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/excavations-khorsabad|title=Excavations At Khorsabad - The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago|website=oi.uchicago.edu}}</ref> The city measured about a square mile in area. It was enclosed within a great wall of unbaked brick pierced by seven gates. Protective genies were placed on either side of these entrances to act as guardians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/winged-human-headed-bull|title=Winged human-headed bull|publisher=|via=Musée du Louvre}}</ref> The palace was richly decorated with relief-carved stone slabs.

The land in the environs of the town was taken under cultivation, and olive groves were planted to increase Assyria's deficient oil production. The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1760 by 1635 m. The length of the walls was 16,283 Assyrian units, corresponding to the numerical value of Sargon's name. The town was partly settled by prisoners of war and deportees under the control of Assyrian officials, who had to ensure they were paying sufficient respect to the gods and the king. The court moved to Dur-Sharrukin in 706 BC, although it was not completely finished.

==Death==
In 705 BC, Sargon was killed while leading a campaign to [[Tabal]], which had rebelled against Assyrian rule seven years prior. His body was never recovered.<ref>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/kings/sargonii/</ref> Sargon was succeeded by his son [[Sennacherib]] (''Sin-ahhe-eriba)''.<ref name=tbm/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Near East}}
*[[Kings of Assyria]]
*[[Annals of Sargon]]
*[[Sargon Stele]]
*[[Urartu–Assyria War]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Victor Avigdor Hurowitz, ""Shutting Up" the Enemy: Literary Gleanings from Sargon's Eighth Campaign," in Mordechai Cogan and Dan'el Kahn (eds), ''Treasures on Camels' Humps: Historical and Literary Studies from the Ancient Near East Presented to Israel Eph'al'' (Jerusalem, Magnes Press, 2008),
* {{cite book | title=Western Asia in the days of Sargon of Assyria | year=1906 | author=[[Albert Ten Eyck Olmstead]] | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028730616}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sargon II}}
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10887 Great Inscription of Khorsaband. Babilonian and Assyrian Literature]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030816143526/http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~szuchman/hist312.htm Sargon’s VIII Campaign]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Sargon|short=x}}
* [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/kings/sargonii/ Sargon II, king of Assyria (721-705 BC)]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Shalmaneser V]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[King of Assyria]]
| years = 722 &ndash; 705 BC }}
{{s-aft| rows   = 2 | after  = [[Sennacherib]] }}
{{s-bef| before = [[Marduk-apal-iddina II]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Kings of Babylon|King of Babylon]]
| years = 710 &ndash; 705 BC }}su
{{S-end}}

{{Assyrian kings}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sargon Ii}}
[[Category:Assyrian kings]]
[[Category:Babylonian kings]]
[[Category:Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:705 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Samaritan culture and history]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:8th-century BC rulers]]