Unfortunately, no list of Assyrian kings preserves a mention of Sargon II. The Assyrian King List ends with Sargon's predecessor Shalmaneser V, and both the Synchronistic King List and Assyrian King List fragment KAV no. 182 have lacunae immediately before their mention of Sennacherib. Sargon II is listed as a ruler of Babylonia in Babylonian King List A and the Ptolemaic Canon immediately following Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), who seized control of Babylonia from Assyria upon the death of Shalmaneser V and ruled that land until defeated by Sargon in 710. Thus, those two lists only assign him a reign of five years (709–705). For the convenience of the user of this volume, it has been thought useful to present translations of the relevant passages here. In this section, the entries immediately preceding and following those of the king whose inscriptions are edited in this volume are given when they are preserved.
Unfortunately, no list of Assyrian kings preserves a mention of Sargon II. The Assyrian King List ends with Sargon's predecessor Shalmaneser V, and both the Synchronistic King List and Assyrian King List fragment KAV no. 182 have lacunae immediately before their mention of Sennacherib. Sargon II is listed as a ruler of Babylonia in Babylonian King List A and the Ptolemaic Canon immediately following Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), who seized control of Babylonia from Assyria upon the death of Shalmaneser V and ruled that land until defeated by Sargon in 710. Thus, those two lists only assign him a reign of five years (709–705). For the convenience of the user of this volume, it has been thought useful to present translations of the relevant passages here. In this section, the entries immediately preceding and following those of the king whose inscriptions are edited in this volume are given when they are preserved.
| iv 9) | 5 (years) | Ulūlāyu (Shalmaneser V), Dynasty of Baltil (Aššur) |
|---|---|---|
| iv 10) | 12 (years) | Marduk-apla-iddina (II), Dynasty of the Sealand |
| iv 11) | 5 (years) | Sargon (II) |
| iv 12) | 2 (years) | Sennacherib, Ḫabigal (Ḫanigalbat) Dynasty[156] |
| Ἰλουλαίου | ε | Iloulaios (Ulūlāyu) (Shalmaneser V) | 5 (years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Μαρδοκεμπάδου | ιβ | Mardokempados (Marduk-apla-iddina II) | 12 (years) |
| Ἀρκεανοῦ | ε | Arkeanos (Sargon II)[157] | 5 (years) |
| ἀβασίλευτα | β | Kingless[158] | 2 (years) |
156 As noted in Grayson and Novotny, RINAP 3/1 p. 23 n. 1, see Brinkman in Studies Oppenheim pp. 35–37 and Frame, RIMB 2 pp. 90–91 for an explanation of BALA ḫa-bi-gal (iv 12). M. Valério (Journal of Language Relationship 6 [2011] pp. 173–183) has argued that the Semitic name of Mitanni (Ḫanigalbat) should be read as Ḫani-Rabbat, a West-Semitic (Amorite) name meaning "Great Ḫani." If this understanding of the name is correct, then one should read BALA ḫa-bi-gal as BALA ḫa-bi-GAL "Habi-Rabbat dynasty." As pointed out by G. Frame (RIMB 2 pp. 90–91), it is unclear why some Assyrian kings are given dynastic affiliation (Sennacherib and Aššur-nādin-šumi to the Ḫabigal dynasty, and Shalmaneser V to the Baltil dynasty) while others are not (Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon II, and Esarhaddon), unless we are to assume that only changes in dynasty were mentioned and thus Sargon II was of the same dynasty as his predecessor Shalmaneser V, the Baltil dynasty. It is also curious that King List A describes Marduk-apla-iddina II during his first regnal period (721–710) as being from the Sealand dynasty (KUR tam-(tim)), but as a soldier of Ḫabi (presumably for Ḫabigal) during his second regnal period (703). N. May (BiOr 74 [2017] p. 516) suggests that "[i]t seems possible that King List A considered every collateral Assyrian royal branch that came to the throne as a new dynasty. Thus, the collateral branch of Sargon is in King List A referred to as the 'Dynasty of Habi-GAL' and that of Tiglath-pileser as the 'Dynasty of Assur.'" See also Fales in Studies Lanfranchi p. 205 for the idea that BALA ḫa-bi-GAL refers to Sargon as well as Sennacherib. For the suggestion that Baltil and Ḫabigal may allude to the birth places of the respective king's mother and not his father, see E. Frahm in Sennacherib at the Gates of Jerusalem pp. 180–181. Frahm also raises the possibility that the reference to the dynasty of Ḫabigal for Sennacherib might be that "Sargon, Sennacherib's father, held a high military office in the west before he became king of Assyria, a position similar to that of the Middle Assyrian 'King of Ḫanigalbat'" (ibid. p. 181).
157 Sargon II was sometimes called Sargon arkû, "the later Sargon" (see above) and Arkeanos may be a late reflection of arkû instead of Sargon's actual name (see, for example, CAD A/2 p. 286).
158 Sennacherib is not mentioned by name in the Ptolemaic Canon and the periods when he ruled it directly at the beginning and end of his reign were recorded as being "kingless."
Grant Frame
Grant Frame, 'King Lists', RINAP 2: Sargon II, Sargon II, The RINAP 2 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2021 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap2/rinap2introduction/datingandchronology/kinglists/]