Restoring the Empire: Sargon II's Campaign to the West in 720/19 BCE / השבת האימפריה לקדמותה: מסע המלחמה של סרגון ב' למערב בשנת 720/19 לפסה"נ

Following the unexpected death of Shalmaneser V in the winter of 722/21, Sargon usurped the throne in Assyria and threw the empire into upheaval. Recent additions to the corpus of Sargon's texts relating to the West point up the seriousness of the situation he faced. Not before the second year of his reign (720/19), after having secured his position within the Assyrian homeland, did Sargon undertake foreign military actions; but he failed to retake Babylon, a setback that made the campaign to the West critical for the empire. Without control of northern Syria, the Phoenician cities and the Land of Israel, Assyria would revert to its pre-imperial stage. The western rebels were led by Yau-bi'di of Hamath, and among them were Arpad, Ṣimirra, Damascus and Samaria. Sargon defeated the rebellious provinces, conquered Samaria, turning it into an Assyrian province, and retook control of the Philistine coast. But the reports of 720/19 make no reference to the kingdom of Judah, and its position vis-avis Assyria at this juncture is the subject of much debate. Questions have been raised as to whether Hezekiah rebelled along with the other western rulers or chose to maintain Judah,s vassal relationship with Assyria, which had been undertaken by Ahaz. The article discusses the implications of a line in a later text concerning this matter, Sargon's claim to be 'the subduer of Judah'. After a review of the sparse sources, it is suggested that Hezekiah pursued a policy characterized by policy shifts, and just may have taken an independent stance in 721 that included breaking with Assyria.