Sargon II’s Defeat of Egypt: Rhetoric or Historical Facts?

The Khorsabad Annals portray Sargon II as an illustrious monarch who, from the outset of his reign, exerted unwavering control over the entire ancient Near East. However, the inscriptions dated to earlier years of Sargon II’s reign do not mention the conquest of Gaza, Samaria, and the defeat of the Egyptian troops attributed to his first regnal years in the Khorsabad Annals. Furthermore, an analysis of the chronology of Sargon II’s campaigns reveals the existence of at least two chronological frameworks prior to 713 b.c. This article addresses the chronological problems of Sargon II’s early reign while focusing on the Egyptian and Assyrian control of the southern Levant. It is argued that the events of the first two years did not take place as described in the Khorsabad Annals, since the annals do not reflect the historical reality of the first years of Sargon II’s reign but rather the status quo of the last years of his reign. To support this conclusion, the article presents literary techniques employed by the scribes of Khorsabad, who composed a new account of Sargon II’s reign.