113 Facts About Sargon II

Sargon II was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705.

Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon is generally believed to have become king after overthrowing Shalmaneser V, probably his brother.

Sargon II is typically considered the founder of a new dynastic line, the Sargonid dynasty.

Modelling his reign on the legends of the ancient rulers Sargon of Akkad, from whom Sargon II likely took his regnal name, and Gilgamesh, Sargon aspired to conquer the known world, initiate a golden age and a new world order, and be remembered and revered by future generations.

An accomplished warrior-king and military strategist, Sargon II personally led his troops into battle.

From 717 to 707, Sargon II constructed a new Assyrian capital named after himself, Dur-Sharrukin, which he made his official residence in 706.

Sargon II considered himself to have been divinely mandated to maintain and ensure justice.

Sargon II worked to assimilate and integrate conquered foreign peoples into the empire and extended the same rights and obligations to them as native Assyrians.

Sargon II forgave defeated enemies on several occasions and maintained good relations with foreign kings and with the ruling classes of the lands he conquered.

Sargon II increased the influence and status of both women and scribes at the royal court.

Sargon II embarked on his final campaign, against Tabal in Anatolia, in 705.

Sargon II was killed in battle and the Assyrian army was unable to retrieve his body, preventing a traditional burial.

Sargon II's fate was a major psychological blow for the Assyrians and damaged his legacy.

Sargon II was barely mentioned in later ancient literature and nearly completely forgotten until the ruins of Dur-Sharrukin were discovered in the 19th century.

Sargon II was not fully accepted in Assyriology as a real king until the 1860s.

Sargon II was probably born c 770 BC and cannot have been born later than c 760 BC.

Sargon II grew up during the reigns of Ashur-dan III and Ashur-nirari V, when rebellion and plague affected the Neo-Assyrian Empire; the prestige and power of Assyria dramatically declined.

Whereas kings typically elaborated on their origin in inscriptions, Sargon II stated that the Assyrian national deity Ashur had called him to the throne.

Sargon II mentioned his origin in just two known inscriptions, where he referred to himself as Tiglath-Pileser's son, and in the Borowski Stele, probably from Hama in Syria, which referenced his "royal fathers".

Some Assyriologists, such as John Anthony Brinkman, believe that Sargon II did not belong to the direct dynastic lineage.

Some historians such as Josette Elayi believe that Sargon II legitimately inherited the throne.

Sargon II rarely referenced his predecessors and, upon accession, faced massive domestic opposition.

Sargon II's only known reference to Shalmaneser describes Ashur punishing him for his policies:.

Sargon II did not otherwise hold Shalmaneser responsible for the policies placed on Assur, since he wrote elsewhere that most of these had been enacted in the distant past.

Hulli, a king in Tabal deported by Shalmaneser, was reinstalled and Sargon II reversed Shalmaneser's attempt to decrease trade with Egypt.

Sargon II was the first king in more than a thousand years to bear the name Sargon.

Sargon II is sometimes explicitly called the "second Sargon".

Sargon II energetically pursued the expansion of his own empire.

In several inscriptions, Sargon II described his name as akin to a divine mandate to ensure that his people lived just lives, for instance in an inscription in which Sargon II described how he reimbursed the owners of the land he chose to construct his new capital city of Dur-Sharrukin on:.

Sargon II's name is commonly interpreted as "the faithful king" in the sense of righteousness and justice.

Sarru-kin can be interpreted as "the legitimate king" or "the true king" and it could have been chosen because Sargon II was not the legitimate heir to the throne.

The origin of the conventional modern version of the name, Sargon II, is not entirely clear but it is probably based on the spelling in the Hebrew Bible.

Sargon II's reign began with large-scale resistance against his rule in Assyria's heartland.

Sargon II claimed to have conquered the city, but it is more likely that Shalmaneser captured the city since both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Hebrew Bible viewed the fall of Israel as the signature event of his reign.

Either Shalmaneser or Sargon II ordered the dispersal of Samaria's population across the Assyrian Empire, following the standard resettlement policy.

Shortly after his failure to retake Babylonia from Marduk-apla-iddina in 720, Sargon II campaigned against Yahu-Bihdi.

Sargon II engaged Yahu-Bihdi and his coalition at Qarqar on the Orontes.

Defeated, Yahu-Bihdi escaped into Qarqar, which Sargon II besieged and captured.

Sargon II described their resettlement as an act of mercy: "their transgression I disregarded, I had mercy on them".

In 718, Sargon II intervened in Mannea, one of these states.

Shortly after the victory over the rebels, Iranzu died and Sargon II intervened in the succession, supporting Iranzu's son Aza rise to the throne of Mannea.

Sargon II campaigned against Tabal in 718, mostly against Kiakki of Shinuhtu, who withheld tribute and conspired with Midas.

Sargon II returned to Syria in 717 to defeat an uprising led by Pisiri of Carchemish, who had supported Sargon II during Yahu-Bihdu's revolt but was now plotting with Midas to overthrow Assyrian hegemony in the region.

The conquest might have inspired Sargon II to build his own new capital city, a project which could be financed with the silver plundered from Carchemish.

Sargon II took so much silver from Carchemish that silver began to replace copper as the currency of the empire.

Sargon II established a new trading post near the border of Egypt in 716, staffed it with people deported from various conquered lands and placed it under the local Arab ruler Laban, an Assyrian vassal.

In 716, Sargon II campaigned between Urartu and Elam, perhaps part of a strategy to weaken these enemies.

Months later, Sargon II invaded Mannea, recaptured Ullusunu's fortresses and restored him to the throne.

Sargon II received the tribute of Ianzu, king of Nairi, another former Urartian vassal.

Sargon II assembled his bodyguards and led them in a near-suicidal charge against the nearest wing of the Urartian forces.

Sargon II's army followed him, defeated the Urartians, and chased them west, far past Lake Urmia.

Sargon II considered the campaign one of the major events of his reign.

In one of his inscriptions, Sargon II alluded to fondness for the foothills of Mount Musri: "following the prompting of my heart, I built a city at the foot of Mount Musri, in the plain of Nineveh, and named it Dur-Sharrukin".

Sargon II took an active personal interest in the progress and frequently intervened in nearly all aspects of the work, from commenting on architectural details to overseeing material transportation and the recruitment of labor.

Sargon II's encouragement was at times lenient, particularly when dealing with grumbling among the workers, but at other times threatening.

The city's palace, which Sargon II called a "palace without rival", was built on a huge artificial platform on the northern side of the city astride the wall, as was typical of Neo-Assyrian palaces, and was fortified with a wall of its own.

In 713, Sargon II campaigned in the Zagros Mountains again, defeating a revolt in the land of Karalla, meeting with Ullusunu and receiving some tribute.

Sargon II probably considered it important to keep good relations with Ellipi since it was a key buffer state between Assyria and Elam.

In 713 Sargon II campaigned against Tabal in southern Anatolia again, trying to secure the kingdom's natural resources and to prevent Urartu from establishing control and contacting Phrygia.

Sargon II used a divide and rule approach in Tabal; territory was distributed between the different Tabalian rulers to prevent any one of them from growing strong enough to present a problem.

Sargon II encouraged the loose hegemony of the strongest Tabalian state, Bit-Purutash, over the other Tabalian rulers.

Sargon II deposed Ambaris, deporting him to Assyria, and annexed Tabal.

Sargon II used diplomacy to convince cities and tribes within Babylonia to betray Marduk-apla-iddina.

Sargon II spent some time at Dur-Athara, sending his soldiers on expeditions to the east and south to convince cities and tribes to submit to his rule.

Sargon II's forces defeated a contingent of Aramean and Elamite soldiers by a river referred to as the Uknu.

Once Sargon II crossed the Tigris and one of the branches of the Euphrates and arrived at the city Dur-Ladinni, near Babylon, Marduk-apla-iddina became frightened.

Elayi speculated in 2017 that Sargon II may have made an agreement with the city's priests, who might have preferred Assyrian rule over a Chaldean king.

Sargon II's forces were defeated by Sargon's army, which had crossed through the flooded terrain unimpeded.

Sargon II besieged Dur-Yakin but was unable to take the city.

Sargon II participated in the annual Babylonian Akitu festival and received homage and gifts from rulers of lands as far away from the heartland of his empire as Bahrain and Cyprus.

Sargon II engaged himself in various domestic affairs in Babylonia, digging a new canal from Borsippa to Babylon and defeating a people called the Hamaranaeans that had been plundering caravans near Sippar.

Sargon II did not personally participate in the campaign and the Assyrians relied on their Levantine vassals for transportation.

In 709, one of Sargon II's officers besieged the Phoenician city of Tyre after its leader refused to ally with Assyria.

The inauguration began with Sargon II "inviting the gods" to Dur-Sharrukin, placing statues of various gods in the city's temples.

Sargon II invited "princes of countries, the governors of my land, scribes and superintendents, nobles, officials and elders of Assyria" to a great feast.

Elayi believes that the most likely explanation is that Sargon II saw the expedition as an interesting diversion from the quiet court life of Dur-Sharrukin.

Sargon II died just over a year after the inauguration of Dur-Sharrukin.

Sargon II appears to have held the influential position of grand vizier.

Two wives of Sargon II are known: Ra'ima and Atalia.

Sargon II had at least two sons before Sennacherib was born, though they died prior to Sennacherib's birth, indicated by Sennacherib's name, Sin-ahhi-eriba in Akkadian, meaning "[the god] Sin has replaced the brothers".

Sennacherib, who succeeded Sargon II as king, was an adult at the time of Sargon II's accession.

Sargon II was named crown prince early in Sargon's reign and assisted his father in running the empire; he helped collect and summarize intelligence reports from the Assyrian spy network.

Sargon II had at least two children younger than Sennacherib, though their names are unknown.

Sargon II's only known daughter was Ahat-Abisha, who married Ambaris of Tabal.

Sargon II was a warrior-king and conqueror who commanded his armies in person and dreamt of conquering the world like Sargon of Akkad.

Sargon II wished to be seen as an omnipresent and eager warrior.

Sargon II is unlikely to have fought on the frontlines in all campaigns since this would greatly have jeopardized the empire, but it is clear that he was more interested in participating in war than his predecessors and successors and he did eventually die in battle.

Sargon II was a highly successful military strategist who employed an extensive spy network, useful for administration and military activities, and employed well-trained scouts for reconnaissance when on campaign.

Sargon II outwitted his enemies on multiple occasions, for instance through the unexpected route he took in the war with Urartu.

Sargon II strengthened the Assyrian army; he was the first Assyrian king to appreciate the war potential of cavalry and made various innovations, including picking certain breeds of horses, developing new methods of harnessing and recruiting mercenary cavalry.

Sargon II aspired to surpass all previous kings, even Sargon II of Akkad.

Sargon II established and cultivated his own cult of personality, for instance through having stelae made with depictions of him as a formidable king and placing these across the empire, often in highly visible places such as frequented passageways.

Sargon II hoped that future generations would regard him as one of the greatest kings.

In several surviving texts, Sargon II's feats were implicitly compared to the legend.

Sargon II worked to ensure the protection and security of the people who lived under his rule.

Sargon II continued and extended this policy, putting foreigners on the same footing as the original Assyrian population.

Sargon II encouraged assimilation, cultural mixture and the teaching, rather than forceful imposition, of Assyrian ways of life.

Sargon II created new military units subservient to the queen, which grew in size and diversity under Sargon's successors.

Sargon II's motivation is not known, but perhaps he wanted to reduce the influence of powerful officials by delegating authority and responsibilities to trusted relatives, including women.

Unlike virtually all other Assyrian kings, Sargon II did not solely exert dominion through aggression, but maintained good relations with several foreign ruling classes and external kings, rewarded loyal vassals, worked to seal alliances, and several times spared and forgave repentant enemies.

Sargon II saw himself as exceptionally intelligent, more so than any of his predecessors.

Sargon II was perhaps educated in art or literature; he built a library in his palace and covered the palace walls in artwork.

Sargon II heavily promoted writing and scribal culture; court scholars became more prominent in Sargon II's reign than both before and after.

Sargon II's legacy in ancient Assyria was severely damaged by the manner of his death; in particular, the failure to recover his body was a major psychological blow for Assyria.

Sargon II was believed to be doomed to a miserable afterlife; his ghost would wander the Earth, eternally restless and hungry.

Sennacherib concluded that Sargon II had perhaps offended Babylon's gods by taking control of the city.

Images Sargon II had created at the temple in Assur were made invisible through raising the level of the courtyard and Sargon II's queen Atalia was buried hastily when she died, without regard to traditional burial practices and in the same coffin as another woman.

Sargon II was obscure in Assyriology prior to the rediscovery of Dur-Sharrukin in the 19th century.

Sargon II's name appears once in the Bible and he is not mentioned in classical sources.

In 1845, Isidore Lowenstern was the first to suggest that Sargon II was the builder of Dur-Sharrukin, although he based this identification on erroneous readings of cuneiform.

Discussions and debate continued for several years and Sargon II was not fully accepted by Assyriologists as a distinct king until the 1860s.

Sargon II left a stable and strong empire, though it proved difficult to control by his successors.

Since the early 20th century, Sargon II has been a common name among modern Assyrian people.