Ruled 722–705 BCE·Divided Kingdom·Person

Sargon II: the King Known Only from Isaiah

Scripture: Isaiah 20:1; 2 Kings 17:6

Colossal winged bull (lamassu) from Sargon II's palace at Khorsabad · Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0 · Source

The claim

Isaiah dates a prophecy to the year Sargon, king of Assyria, sent his commander to capture Ashdod. It is the only time the Bible names him.

What archaeology found

For centuries Sargon appeared in no other surviving source, and some scholars doubted him or merged him with other kings. In 1843 Paul-Émile Botta began excavating Khorsabad in northern Iraq and found Dur-Sharrukin, 'Fortress of Sargon', with its palace reliefs and colossal winged bulls. Sargon's annals describe deporting the people of Samaria and campaigning against Ashdod, and fragments of a Sargon stele were later found at Ashdod itself.

Sources

Mordechai Cogan, The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to Ancient Israel, Carta (2008)

Verdict history

Nov 10, 2026ConfirmedInitial verdict.