721-705 B.C.E.
Assyrian King

Usurper. In 722 B.C.E. Sargon, whose Akkadian name (Sharru-kin) means "the king is legitimate," overthrew the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V (726-722 B.C.E.), who may have been his brother, at the moment the king's troops were besieging Samaria, the capital of ancient Israel. Although in his later years, Sargon claimed that on taking the throne, he completed the conquest of Samaria and the deportation of its population; the Hebrew Bible, which is probably correct, mentions only Shalmaneser in this regard. In reality, after staging his coup, Sargon faced rebellion and belligerent adversaries on virtually all the borders of Assyria. Sargon spent practically his entire reign in military campaigns suppressing rebellions and attempting to complete the strategy of expansion and consolidation initiated during the reign of Shalmaneser's father, Tiglathpileser III (744-727 B.C.E.). Yet, Sargon also managed to...