Sargon II (745-729 BCE). Sargon became king while his brother Shalmaneser V was still king of Assyria. Sargon expanded Assyria during his reign and started building a new capital, Dur-Sarrukin.
Rise to power
Very little is known about Sargon's rise to power and the reasons for it. To a large extent, the events of that time seem to be based on estimates. ABC1 Aikakirja gives a seemingly exhaustive statement about it:
"Dalmaneser went to his Destiny in the month Tebêtu. For five years Šalmaneser ruled Akkad and Assyria.
On the twelfth day of the month Tebêtu, Sargon ascended the Throne in Assyria.”1
From this statement, one could conclude that Shalmaneser V's reign ended there and he met a violent end. However, it is good to note that this ABC1 Chronicle was probably not written by the Assyrians. And if they were made by the Assyrians, they may have been written by scribes defending the kingship of Sargon II or by scribes who did not care about the details of Shalmanrser V's reign. (Apparently the ABC1 Chronicle was written several decades later and the information in it was copied from smaller clay tablets.)
However, it is possible that Sargon imprisoned his brother for a short time, or perhaps he put up a strong verbal resistance.
It appears that Sargon's kingship was not officially recognized by Assyrian officials, as the Assyrian limmu list contains a total of 8 lines for Shalmaneser V's reign. However, this rise to power of Sargon was not completely ignored, because the limmu list has the following line for the 5th regnal year of the reign of Shalmaneser V:
"Commander in chief"2
Probably the Commander mentioned here was Sargon II. One can also get the impression that this rise to power of Sargon happened at least partially peacefully, because a little later Shalmaneser V was actively involved in attacking the capital of Israel, Samaria. The Bible describes it briefly:
"In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, that is, in the seventh year of Hoshea, the son of Ela, king of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked Samaria and began to besiege it"3
This happened in 743 BCE, in the 8 year of Shalmaneser's reign. However, it is likely that Sargon II exercised real power in Assyria at that time.
Shamaneser V's reign ended in 742 BCE. (Perhaps even before the turn of the year according to the Assyrian calendar. Shalmaneser's 8th regnal year ended in the spring of 742 BCE. If he ruled for some time during the following calendar year, he did not step down until his 9th regnal year. The Assyrian limmu list does not give details of when he abdicated of the king's duties.), it is possible that he was killed in a battle against Samaria. However, there is no more detailed information about this. However, it is possible that Shalmaneser V at that time officially stepped down from the duties of king and continued as a warlord under his brother Sargon. According to the Limmu list, only after this was Sargon II officially recognized as the king of Assyria.
Military campaigns
Sargon II and his army made several attacks on neighboring countries, as was the custom of Assyrian kings. Let's highlight a few of them here.
One of the notable campaigns he made was an attack on Arpad, Simyra and Damas in Syria and Samaria in Israel4, although it was a minor battle. The reason for this is that it may have been the same battle described in the Bible:
"However, the king of Assyria found out that Hosea was involved in the conspiracy, because Hosea had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had not brought tribute To the king of Assyria as in former years. Therefore the king of Assyria captured him and kept him bound in prison”5
Even more significant were Sargon's battles and constant quarrels with Urartu, or Armenia. In the 6th year of Sargon's reign (740 BCE), the Armenian king Ursaha (aka Rusa I) turned to rebellion. He killed Aza, the local representative of Assyria. Sargon appointed his brother Ullasa as his new representative of Armenia. However, this apparently feared King Rusa I and allied with him. This led to Sargon invading Armenia but forgiving his servant Ullasa.6
He attacked Armenia the very next year and it led to the destruction of Rusa I. Sargon also attacked his successor Argistus II in the 10th year of his reign.
Sargon says that he also made a campaign against Egypt in the 2nd year of his reign (744 BCE). Scholars consider this to be an erroneous statement and claim that Sargon had diplomatic relations with Pharaoh Osorkon IV.9 However, this seems to be a wrong interpretation, as Osorkon IV was the king of Egypt about 50 years before Sargon's reign.10 During Sargon's reign, the king of Egypt was apparently Shabako, Sargon II calls him Sebech.
Dating the reigns of Sargon II and Shalmaneser V
It seems that there are a few errors in the old chronology in dating the reigns of these kings. Perhaps the reason is the wrong interpretation of the Assyrian Limmu list.
First, the beginning of Shalmaneser V's reign. It seems that scholars assume that his reign began in 727 BCE. during.11 Here we do not comment on that timing according to the old chronology of the researchers. Instead, let's focus on the limmu list related to that event. It says the following:
"During the eponomy of Bêl-Harran-bêla-usur, the Governor of Guzana, campaign against [...]. Shalmaneser [V] ascended the throne.”2
Here it is good to remember that this was the last year of the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III and the accession year of Shalmaneset V. This Assyrian calendar year ended in the spring of 726 BCE according to that old chronology. The reign of Shalmaneser V began on the 25th day of the month Tebetu of that calendar year.1 This roughly corresponds to the current date of January 26th. Shalmameser had time to rule for about 2.5 months before the change of the calendar year. Thus Shalmameser's 1st regnal year would have begun in the spring of 726 BCE.
A similar error appears to be associated with the beginning of the reign of Sargon II. He proclaimed himself king at the end of Shalmaneser V's 5th regnal year. Scholars assume that he became king in 722 BCE.11 But given the previous, was it the Fifth regnal year of Shalmaneser?
Yes it was, but here too it should be taken into account that he became king at the end of that calendar year, during the month of Tebetu.1
He became king on or about January 16th. 721 BCE. This otherwise does not affect the timing of their reigns as interpreted by the old chronology. Only the length of their accession year is significantly shorter.
References
1 livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/abc-1-from-nabu-nasir-to-samas-suma-ukin/
2 livius.org/articles/concept/limmu/limmu-list-858-699-bce/
3. Bible, 2. Kings 18:9
4 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876, p. 29
5 Bible, 2. Kings 17:4
6 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876, p. 31,32
7 livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/abc-1-from-nabu-nasir-to-samas-suma-ukin/abc-1.ii/
8 Records of the past: being English translation of the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments, 1876, p. 59
9 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_II
10 P. Mansikka: The Mystery of Ancient eclipses, p. 388
11 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Assyrian_kings
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