Sargon II

SARGON II. - One of the greatest kings of Assyria (Assyrian Šarru-ukēn[u] and Šarru-kēn[u]; Septuagint 'Αρχέανος, from arkā "the second," which S. added to his name), whose reign (722-705 B.C.) was decisive for the history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which then ended tragically in 606 (v. NABOPALASSAR).

Although S. cannot be called, as was once believed, the founder of a dynasty of "Sargonids," nevertheless with him that valiant military and priestly Empire reached its apogee. The neighboring peoples (Media, and principally Elam and Urartu, a bitter adversary of Assyria), learned more and more the Assyrian technique and industrial, administrative and military organization, converting it into a terrible weapon against Assyria. In the south the Chaldeans were asserting themselves, under Merodach-Baladan (v.), a brilliant diplomat; in the southwest, with the Ethiopian dynasty, Egypt reappeared on the scene (with the sib'e of Pharaoh Shabaka); in the west Mita of Muški (the Phrygian king Midas of Herodotus and Ovid) allied himself with Rusas I, an energetic king of Urartu. Urartu threatened the southeastern flank of Assyria, allying itself with petty princes of Media and seeking contact with Elam in the Zagros ranges. S. struck in every direction, but succeeded only in weakening Urartu with the help of the Gimirrai and Ilguzai (the Cimmerians and Scythians of the Greek authors) and, as happens in history, he destroyed not only an enemy but also a very strong rampart that protected Assyria and the ancient Semitic civilization against invasion from the Eurasian steppes. The consequence of this victory of his was, for the rise of the Iranian powers (v. MEDIA), the destruction of Nineveh, the annihilation of the Assyrian people (v. NABOPALASSAR) and the entry of Cyrus into Babylon (v. NABONEDO) in 539 B.C.

The Bible relates that S.'s turtanu besieged and despoiled Ashdod (Ašdādh; Is. 20, 1). The cuneiform inscriptions are so numerous that S. may be called the best-known figure in the ancient East: triumphal records, annals and other accounts of his deeds, foundation stones, slabs. The famous "eighth campaign" stands out for its literary value, which for its rhythmic language, its use of parallelism, and its poetic descriptions of landscapes and festivals has no equal in its genre. However, the historian should not forget the propagandistic intention of that solemn (or sacral) "war communiqué": it is a letter from the chief scribe to the god Ashur, which duly highlights the exploits of the army. Besides S., it also reflects the character of his great adversary Rusas I: a portrait that inspires respect, despite the brutal words with which he is stigmatized on other occasions, no differently from what the Roman historians do with Hannibal. Those inscriptions are continually increasing in number, through the excavations of Dur-Sarru-kēn ("Fortress of S."), built by S. as a magnificent residence in defiance of Nineveh (v.), through those of the city of Ashur and, in 1952, through those of Kalab (Nimrud), where the English found: a) half of a "prism" containing his most extensive historical annals; b) a practically complete "cylinder" of Merodach-Baladan.

According to an enameled slab, published by E. Unger, S. is the younger son of Tiglath-Pileser III (v.). The spelling of the name, Šarru-ukēnu, typical for a second-born, also agrees: "The King made the (dynasty) firm (stable, authentic)." The other spelling of the name, which mostly occurs in the ideograms, means "the firm (genuine, true, authentic) king." There may well have been a slight change in the name when S., in 722, deposed his brother Shalmaneser V (v.), who must have died in circumstances not clarified by any historical document. The change of regime was accepted by Assyria without internal revolutions. If on that occasion S. restored the privileges of the ancient capital Ashur, his native city, this does not mean a revolution of the "priests" against the "soldiers," for the sole reason of the recovery of the ancient privileges lost under Tiglath-Pileser III.

S. fought against Merodach-Baladan (v.) and his ally Humbanigash of Elam; in the new cylinder just found Merodach-Baladan celebrates with the greatest exultation as his complete victory the battle of Dēr (720), by which he freed Babylonia from the arrogance of the "Subareans," the name he gives to the Assyrians. But S. had a good "secret service," which informed him about the internal conditions of the neighboring countries, and after the death of Humbanigash, when internal discords arose in Elam, he dislodged Merodach-Baladan from Babylon, taking as "lieutenant" (Iakanakhu), with a symbolic rite, the hands of Bēl at the new year of 709.

More arduous were the campaigns against Rusas (Assyrian Ursa), king of Urartu. Well informed, S. hurried with great swiftness in 719 to the aid of the king of the Manneans, attacked by a coalition of Rusas, Mitatti of Zikirti and Bagdatti (an Aryan name) of Ušdiš, the latter being recent immigrants. More serious was the danger in 717: the king of the Manneans who succeeded to the throne was defeated among the peaks of Sabend and the shores of Lake Urmia, and his brother Ullusunu led the army to the aid of the Urartians, along with two other kings of regions even further south. S., having arrived, crosses the high mountain of Sabend, surprises the adversaries, takes them alive, and flays Bagdatti. Ullusunu, pardoned, is confirmed as vassal of S. The greatest battle, however, was fought in 715, when Dajakku (Greek Deiokes) conspired with Rusas and took 20 cities from Ullusunu, now a good vassal. S. reconquers the lost cities and imposes a heavy tribute on the King of the Nairi lands (between Assyria and Urartu proper). Dajakku, captured with his family, was deported to Hamšli in Syria. S. struck the hardest blow the following year, in the famous "eighth campaign": with his cavalry he arrived with unexpected rapidity on the shores of Lake Urmia and annihilated the army of Rusas. It was then an easy matter, amid incredible devastation (S. did not think of annexing countries), to invade Urartu, more or less along the Tebriz-Van road. Without however daring a siege of Turušpaš, he devastated the country as far as north of Lake Van; thus he weakened that country already shattered by the Cimmerians. On his return he committed an act of sacrilege, despoiling the rich temple of the national enemy god Haldi at Musasir: this scene has also been handed down to us in a fresco of his palace at Horsābād. The ruler of Musasir, however, took refuge almost alone with Rusas, who died soon after. Under the son of Rusas, Argjatis II (714-ca. 680) Urartu slowly recovered from the double defeat in the north and south of the country, and became a formidable enemy of Sennacherib (v.).

In the west S. confronted Phrygia under Midas at the height of its power, allied with Urartu. S.'s systematic policy aimed at eliminating the vassal kings, reducing the whole region to a system of Assyrian provinces. B. Landsberger thinks that many of the "revolts" narrated in S.'s "Annals" would have been pure pretexts fabricated by S.'s very active secret service; thus S. would have liquidated even the most faithful vassals. S. asserted himself especially in the Taurus, rich in mines, where in 718 he defeated Kiakki of Sinuhti and gave the country to Matti of Atuna (Tiana). In 715 he took 20 cities in the Taurus, of which Midas had taken possession. Other enterprises restored order, or served to found Assyrian provinces further north: in Commagene, Melitene, Comana. He struck the decisive blow against Phrygia in 711: the Assyrian governor of Quē (today's Cilicia) invaded Phrygia, which submitted; Midas paid tribute. On that occasion S. came into contact with the Greeks, on the coast. He also subjugated Cyprus, as a stele found there attests.

S.'s expeditions into Phrygia and Palestine, which are of closer interest to biblical history, are more controversial in many details. It seems that S. brought the siege of Samaria to completion (722). Others doubt this, as for chronological reasons does E. R. Thiele, who in a serious study, re-establishing the historical authority of the Books of Kings, maintains that Shalmaneser V (v.) captured the city. The great deportation of the Israelites took place only after 720, when, it appears, Jaubi'di of Hamath (a usurper who deposed Eniš, always a faithful vassal of Assyria) attempted to imitate Merodach-Baladan, who claimed the victory of Dēr through the agency of the Elamites. He allied himself with Hanunu of Gaza, and the rebels of the provinces already constituted joined him: Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, Samerina. The second battle of Qarqar then took place (for the first, of 853, v. SHALMANESER III) and, since Hanunu and the sib'e of the pharaoh Šabaka (who had then for the first time conquered the Egyptian delta) had not arrived in time, the allies were defeated. The Assyrian army penetrated into the south, into the Palestinian plain. Another battle was fought near Rapihu (Raphia): Hanunu was taken alive and the pharaoh's sib'e, defeated, withdrew to Egypt. With the expedition of 715 he seems to have wished to secure the Transjordanian trade route, as far as Yemen. S. received tribute from the Haippa, Tamud, Ibadidi, Marsimani, from Samsi queen of the desert region of northern Arabia, and from It'amar of Sheba.

Mentioned in the Bible is another punitive expedition against a "Greek" adventurer, a native of Cyprus, who had killed Abi-miti, a faithful tributary of S. It seems that Hezekiah, king of Judah, also took part in that rebellion, besides Philistia, Edom and Moab. At the approach of S.'s turtanu, Gath, Ashdod and Ashdudimmu (probably the "harbor" of Ashdod) fell. The "Greek" took refuge with the Ethiopian pharaoh, who however, wishing to consolidate the recently reconquered delta, and so as not to spoil good relations with S., sent him back to him in chains.

It is not without significance for future history that that powerful king had to die in a military expedition, probably in Tabal, in the Taurus, where he clashed with Ešpai of Kullum, probably a Cimmerian chief (others think of the east). His reign, which inaugurated an entire age of splendor also in culture, literature and art, raises an important question: perhaps, by continuing a policy of rapprochement with Urartu, he would have avoided the tragedy of Assyria. An age of prosperity and artistic taste has also been revealed to us by the ruins, brought to light by the Americans, of Horsābād, which was the residence he conceived and perhaps also followed in the details of its construction.

Pietro Nober