The ''Annals of Sargon II'' are a series of

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedg ...

inscriptions detailing the military actions of the Assyrian ruler

Sargon II Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") 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 (745–727), Sargon is genera ...

between 720 BCE and 705 BCE.

Discovery

The Annals were unearthed in

Khorsabad Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast o ...

between 1842 and 1844 by archeologists

Paul-Émile Botta Paul-Émile Botta (6 December 1802 – 29 March 1870) was an Italian-born French scientist who served as Consul in Mosul (then in the Ottoman Empire, now in Iraq) from 1842, and who discovered the ruins of the ancient Assyrian capital of Dur-Shar ...

and Eugène Flandin. Botta and Flandin published their findings in 1849, in a paper entitled ''Les Monuments de Ninive''. Botta and Flandin could not read cuneiform, and so translations of the text were reliant on Botta's copies; the first major translation was made by

Hugo Winckler Hugo Winckler (4 July 1863 – 19 April 1913) was a German archaeologist and historian who uncovered the capital of the Hittite Empire ( Hattusa) at Boğazkale, Turkey. A student of the languages of the ancient Middle East, he wrote exten ...

and published as ''Keitshrifttexte Sargons'' in 1889.

Content

The Annals cover an eleven-year campaign against a number of Assyrian vassal states, divided by the years of Sargon II's reign.

Major events covered

720 BC (the General Inscription)

In response to

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first ...

's refusal to pay taxes and attempt to cede from Assyrian rule, Sargon conquers Samaria, taking many prisoners. He subsequently repopulates the area with displaced citizens of other conquered territories:

At the beginning of my royal rule, I…the town of the Samarians I besieged, conquered (2 Lines destroyed) or the god…who let me achieve this my triumph… I led away as prisoners 7,290 inhabitants of it (and) equipped from among them (soldiers to man)50 chariots for my royal corps… The town I rebuilt better than it was before and settled therein people from countries which I had conquered. I placed an officer of mine as governor over them and imposed upon them tribute as is customary for Assyrian citizens.

720 BCE

Yahu-Bihdi, a Hittite, establishes allegiances with Arvad,

Simirra Tell Kazel ( ar, تل الكزل, translit=Tall al-Kazil) is an oval-shaped tell that measures at its base, narrowing to at its top. It is located in the Safita district of the Tartus Governorate in Syria in the north of the Akkar plain on the ...

, Damascus and Samaria and declares independence from Assyria. Sargon captures him after laying siege to the city of

Qarqar (Karkar) Qarqar or Karkar is the name of an ancient town in northwestern Syria, known from Neo-Assyrian sources. It was the site of one of the most important battles of the ancient world, the battle of Qarqar, fought in 853 BC when the army of Assyria, le ...

, burning the city to the ground and executing Yahu-Bihdi by flaying.

714 BCE

Sargon attacks a number of Arabic tribes, including the Thamud,

Ephah Ephah (, ''‘Êp̄āh'', Septuagint Γαιφα, ''Gaipha'') was one of Midian's five sons as listed in the Hebrew Bible. Midian, a son of Abraham, was the father of Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah by his wife KeturahGenesis 25:4. ...

, Ibadidi and Marsimani; deporting the survivors of his campaign to Samaria.Israel Ephʻal, ''The Ancient Arabs: Nomads on the Borders of the Fertile Crescent, 9th–5th Centuries B.C.'' (Magnes Press, 1982), p. 105.

711 BCE

Sargon deposes Aziru, king of

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterra ...

and puts Aziru's brother Ahimiti on the throne. The Hittites revolt against this edict; Sargon in response lays siege to Ashdod, conquering it and making it a vassal state.

External links

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References

{{reflist 8th-century BC works 1842 archaeological discoveries Cuneiform Assyriology Semitic inscriptions 8th-century BC in Assyria Sargon II