Sargon II

King of Assyria (722-705 B.C)

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Lived -765–-705, aged 60

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Era
-765–-705
Aged 60

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

An Assyrian king who ruled for seventeen years, conquered most of the known world, built a capital city named after himself — and then died in battle so far from home that his army couldn't recover the body. In ancient Mesopotamian belief, that meant his soul was condemned to wander forever.

Biography

About

Sargon II probably seized the throne in 722 BC by overthrowing his brother Shalmaneser V, taking a regnal name borrowed from the legendary Sargon of Akkad. He led troops personally, expanded Assyrian territory across the Levant and Babylonia, weakened the rival kingdom of Urartu, and worked to integrate conquered peoples rather than simply subjugate them. From 717 to 707 he built a new capital, Dur-Sharrukin, and moved in the year before his death. In 705, campaigning in Anatolia, he was killed in battle against Tabal; the army never retrieved his body. His son Sennacherib, haunted by the idea…

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