720s BC

The 720s BC encompassed the years from 729 BC to 720 BC, a decade characterized primarily by the consolidation of Neo-Assyrian imperial power in the ancient Near East through military campaigns and administrative reforms.^[1] This period saw the siege and eventual fall of Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of Israel, initiated by Shalmaneser V around 725 BC and completed by his successor Sargon II in 722–720 BC, resulting in the deportation of approximately 27,000 Israelites to Assyrian territories and the resettlement of the region with populations from other conquered areas.^[2][3] The conquest, corroborated by Assyrian royal inscriptions and biblical accounts, extinguished the Northern Kingdom of Israel as an independent entity and exemplified Assyria's systematic policy of mass deportation to prevent rebellion, which involved relocating elites and skilled laborers while integrating diverse ethnic groups into the empire's provincial structure.^[4][5] Concurrently, Sargon II's reign from 722 BC onward focused on stabilizing frontiers, including campaigns against Urartu and the installation of loyal vassals, laying groundwork for Assyria's dominance until the late 7th century BC.^[1] In peripheral regions, such as Nubia and the Levant, Assyrian influence prompted defensive alliances and local power shifts, though the decade's legacy centers on the transformative impact of Assyrian hegemony on Levantine polities.^[6]

Near Eastern Developments

Assyrian Empire Under Sargon II

Sargon II ascended the throne of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BC, likely through usurpation following the death of Shalmaneser V amid the ongoing siege of Samaria.^[7] In his inscriptions, Sargon claimed responsibility for the final conquest of Samaria, reporting the deportation of 27,290 inhabitants to Assyria and the installation of an Assyrian governor, thereby annexing the former Kingdom of Israel as the province of Samerina.^[8] This action, initiated under Shalmaneser V around 725–724 BC, marked the effective end of the northern Israelite kingdom and exemplified Assyrian policy of mass deportation to suppress rebellion and repopulate territories.^[9] In 720 BC, Sargon launched a punitive campaign against a widespread revolt in the Levant, targeting cities including Hamath, Damascus, and Philistine strongholds. Assyrian forces decisively defeated a coalition army, bolstered by Egyptian troops under Pharaoh Osorkon IV (So), at the Battle of Raphia near Gaza, capturing the rebel king of Gaza and executing him.^[10] Sargon then sacked Hamath, deporting 30,000 of its Aramean and Luwian inhabitants, while reorganizing the region into Assyrian provinces to secure tribute routes and buffer zones against Egypt. These early campaigns in the 720s BC stabilized Assyrian hegemony in the western provinces after the turbulent transition from Shalmaneser V, enabling Sargon to redirect resources toward eastern threats and monumental construction, such as the foundation of his new capital, Dur-Sharrukin, though major building efforts commenced later.^[11] The deportations, totaling tens of thousands from Samaria and Hamath alone, facilitated cultural assimilation and military recruitment, underscoring the empire's reliance on engineered demographic shifts for long-term control.^[12]

Fall of the Kingdom of Israel

![Assyrian Lammasu guardian figure][float-right] The Northern Kingdom of Israel, ruled by King Hoshea, faced Assyrian intervention after withholding tribute and seeking Egyptian alliance around 725 BC. Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria from 727 to 722 BC, responded by invading and besieging Samaria, the capital, initiating a three-year siege as recorded in biblical texts.^[13][14] Samaria fell in 722 BC during Shalmaneser V's reign, according to 2 Kings 17, which describes the capture of Hoshea and the deportation of Israelites by Assyria. However, Sargon II, who ascended the throne in 722 BC, claims in his royal inscriptions—including annals and prisms found at Dur-Sharrukin—that he personally conquered Samaria, deported 27,290 inhabitants, and repopulated the region with exiles from other conquered territories to quell rebellion.^[15][16] Scholarly analysis reconciles these accounts by positing that Shalmaneser began the siege, but Sargon completed the subjugation in 720 BC after suppressing a revolt or final resistance, establishing Assyrian provinces of Magiddû and Samerina.^[17][18] Archaeological evidence from Samaria reveals destruction layers and a shift to Assyrian administrative practices post-conquest, including seal impressions and pottery indicative of imperial control, though the precise correlation with 722 or 720 BC remains debated due to limited direct Assyrian artifacts at the site. The policy of mass deportation aimed to prevent ethnic cohesion and rebellion, leading to the "Ten Lost Tribes" narrative in later traditions, with resettled populations from Mesopotamia and elsewhere forming a mixed Samaritan identity.^[2][19] This event marked the end of the independent Kingdom of Israel, reducing it to an Assyrian vassal territory by the late 720s BC.^[20]

Other Levantine and Mesopotamian Affairs

In southern Mesopotamia, the Chaldean leader Marduk-apla-iddina II seized control of Babylon in 721 BC amid the power vacuum following the death of Assyrian king Shalmaneser V, establishing a brief period of independence from Assyrian domination.^[21] He proclaimed himself king and consolidated power over Babylonian cities and Chaldean tribes, leveraging alliances with Elam to counter Assyrian threats.^[22] This autonomy faced immediate challenge in 720 BC at the Battle of Der, east of Babylon, where Marduk-apla-iddina's forces, supported by Elamite king Humbanigash I, clashed with Assyrian troops; while Assyrian records claim victory, Marduk-apla-iddina retained effective control of the region, demonstrating the limits of immediate Assyrian reconquest.^[7][23] Marduk-apla-iddina's rule persisted through the decade, fostering Chaldean influence until Assyrian forces under Sargon II captured Babylon in 710 BC.^[24] In the Levant, the northern Syrian state of Hamath experienced internal upheaval in 720 BC when its governor Ilubi'di (also known as Yahu-Bihdi) led a revolt against Assyrian authority, drawing support from cities including Arpad, Simirra, and Damascus, as well as elements in Philistia and Egyptian military aid. Assyrian forces decisively defeated the coalition near Raphia in Philistine territory, leading to Hamath's fall, the flaying of Ilubi'di, and mass deportations from the region to enforce loyalty.^[23] Southern Levantine kingdoms, such as Judah under King Ahaz, avoided entanglement in these rebellions by upholding tributary obligations to Assyria, which preserved their autonomy amid the broader wave of Assyrian pacification campaigns.^[25] Phoenician city-states like Tyre and Sidon similarly maintained economic operations through tribute payments, facilitating trade networks under Assyrian hegemony without recorded uprisings during the decade.^[26] Philistine cities, implicated in the Hamath coalition, faced reprisals including tribute extraction and administrative oversight following the Raphia engagement.^[17]

Mediterranean and Aegean World

Greek City-State Formations and Conflicts

During the late 8th century BC, Greek poleis emerged as autonomous political units characterized by centralized settlements, communal institutions, and territorial control, transitioning from the decentralized villages of the post-Mycenaean era. Archaeological evidence from sites like Athens and Argos indicates synoecism— the amalgamation of smaller communities into urban cores—accompanied by population growth and the construction of early temples and agoras, fostering civic identity and aristocratic governance.^[27][28] This process, evident by circa 750 BC, enabled poleis such as Sparta, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes to define boundaries and develop assemblies, though power remained concentrated among basileis and nobles.^[29] A defining conflict shaping early polis dynamics was Sparta's First Messenian War, traditionally dated to approximately 740–720 BC, which culminated in the conquest of Messenia and the reduction of its inhabitants to helots—state-owned serfs providing agricultural labor that sustained Spartan citizen equality.^[30] Ancient sources like Pausanias attribute the war's initiation to border disputes under Spartan kings Theopompus and Polydorus, with Spartan forces overcoming Messenian resistance led by figures such as King Euphaes, though these narratives, compiled centuries later, blend historical kernels with mythic elements.^[31] The victory redistributed Messenian land via klaroi (allotments) to Spartan homoioi, reinforcing the dual kingship, gerousia, and ephorate while prioritizing military training over other pursuits, a causal factor in Sparta's oligarchic stability amid regional rivalries.^[32] This conquest exemplified emerging inter-polis hostilities driven by arable land scarcity in the Peloponnese, contrasting with cooperative ventures elsewhere but setting precedents for hoplite-based warfare and enslavement of defeated populations. In central Greece, tensions between Euboean poleis like Chalcis and Eretria over Lelantine plain resources foreshadowed broader conflicts, with disputes escalating around 710 BC into the Lelantine War, involving alliances and innovations in armament.^[33] While exact 720s BC engagements remain sparsely attested, the Messenian outcome bolstered Sparta's hegemony in Laconia and Messenia, influencing neighboring poleis like Argos to militarize against Spartan expansion.^[34] These developments underscored the polis as a framework for both internal cohesion and external aggression, rooted in demographic pressures and resource competition rather than ideological unity.

Early Colonization Efforts

In the 720s BC, Greek colonization efforts in the western Mediterranean intensified, particularly in the region of Magna Graecia along the southern Italian coast, as city-states sought to alleviate population pressures, secure fertile agricultural lands, and establish trade outposts amid growing maritime capabilities. Achaean settlers from the Peloponnese, supplemented by groups from Troezen, founded Sybaris near the mouths of the Crati and Sybaris rivers, exploiting the area's rich alluvial plains for intensive farming of grains, olives, and vines that would later underpin the city's prosperity.^[35][36] Concurrently, Chalcidian colonists from Euboea established Rhegium (modern Reggio Calabria) on the Strait of Messina, strategically positioning the settlement to control maritime routes between Sicily and the Italian mainland while facilitating commerce in metals and pottery.^[37][38] These foundations reflected a pattern of oikist-led expeditions, where a designated leader orchestrated the migration of families, artisans, and farmers, often under oracular guidance from Delphi, to replicate the mother city's institutions abroad.^[39] Archaeological evidence, including imported Euboean pottery at Rhegium and Achaean-style burials at Sybaris, confirms the rapid integration of these outposts into broader Hellenic networks, though initial interactions with indigenous Italic tribes like the Oenotrians involved both trade and sporadic conflict over territory.^[37] By the close of the decade, these efforts laid groundwork for further expansions, such as nearby Croton around 710 BC, demonstrating the decentralized, opportunistic nature of Archaic Greek overseas ventures driven by economic imperatives rather than centralized imperial policy.^[35]

East Asian Developments

Zhou Dynasty Transitions

King Ping of Zhou (r. 770–720 BC), the inaugural ruler of the Eastern Zhou following the Quanrong nomads' destruction of the Western Zhou capital Haojing in 771 BC, died in 720 BC after a reign reliant on military support from vassal states like Zheng and Jin to consolidate power in the relocated capital at Luoyi.^[40][41] His death prompted a direct dynastic transition to his son, Crown Prince Lin, who acceded as King Huan of Zhou (r. 719–697 BC) in 719 BC, maintaining ritual continuity in the royal lineage amid eroding central authority.^[40][42] This succession highlighted the Zhou kingship's transformation into a largely ceremonial institution, as feudal lords (zhuhou) increasingly managed interstate conflicts and diplomacy without royal oversight, a process evident in contemporaneous bronze inscriptions and later annals recording vassal autonomy from the early 8th century BC onward.^[40] King Huan's initial efforts to reassert influence, including overtures toward western territories lost after 771 BC, faced immediate constraints from non-Zhou polities and the reluctance of eastern states to defer to the throne, foreshadowing defeats like the 707 BC campaign against Zheng where royal forces suffered a humiliating loss.^[40][43] The decade's events thus exemplified causal dynamics of decentralization: the Zhou court's dependence on aristocratic alliances post-771 BC eroded its coercive capacity, enabling lords to prioritize local hegemony over fealty, as substantiated by archaeological evidence of regional bronze production and independent state militaries.^[42] No major upheavals accompanied the 720–719 BC handover, contrasting with the violent founding of Eastern Zhou under King Ping, but it reinforced empirical patterns of royal weakness documented in Zuozhuan commentaries, where kings from Huan onward invoked ancestral precedents futilely against rising state powers like Qi and Lu.^[40] This era's transitions, devoid of recorded succession crises, nonetheless accelerated the Spring and Autumn period's fragmentation, with over 140 states vying for dominance by mid-century, per inherited textual chronologies.^[42]

Notable Figures

Rulers and Conquerors

Sargon II ascended the Assyrian throne in 722 BC, succeeding Shalmaneser V during the ongoing siege of Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Shalmaneser V (r. 727–722 BC) had initiated the campaign against King Hoshea of Israel (r. ca. 732–722 BC) after Hoshea withheld tribute and sought Egyptian aid, but Shalmaneser died before its conclusion. Sargon II completed the conquest, capturing Samaria and deporting approximately 27,290 inhabitants to Assyria, as recorded in his royal inscriptions, thereby ending the Northern Kingdom of Israel.^[1][44] In 720 BC, Sargon II launched a punitive campaign against rebellious vassals in the Levant, defeating a coalition that included Egyptian forces and Philistine allies. He captured Hanunu, king of Gaza, who had fled to Egypt for support; Hanunu was later extradited, subjected to ritual humiliation, and flayed alive. This victory reinforced Assyrian dominance over Philistia and deterred further Egyptian interference in the region.^[45][44] Concurrently in Egypt, Bakenrenef (r. ca. 725–720 BC) ruled from Sais in the western Delta as the last pharaoh of the 24th Dynasty. His reign ended abruptly when Shabaka (r. ca. 721–707 BC), king of Kush, invaded Lower Egypt around 720 BC, capturing and executing Bakenrenef—reportedly by burning him alive—and establishing the 25th Dynasty's control over a unified Egypt. Chronologies for Shabaka's conquest vary, with some placing it as late as 712 BC based on Assyrian synchronisms, but Manetho's account and certain Egyptian records support an earlier date aligning with Sargon's western campaigns.^[46][47]

Intellectuals and Advisors

Isaiah ben Amoz, a prophet in the Kingdom of Judah, was active from circa 740 BC to circa 700 BC, providing counsel to kings including Ahaz (r. 735–715 BC) during the Assyrian conquests that culminated in the fall of Israel in 722 BC.^[48] He advised Ahaz to reject an alliance with Assyria against Aram-Damascus and Israel, warning that such dependence would lead to subjugation, and instead to trust in Yahweh's deliverance, as evidenced by his oracle in Isaiah 7 during the Syro-Ephraimite War around 734–732 BC.^[49] Isaiah's role extended to influencing policy through visions emphasizing moral reform and opposition to Assyrian expansionism, though Judah ultimately paid tribute to Assyria under Ahaz.^[50] Micah of Moresheth, a contemporary of Isaiah, prophesied from approximately 750 BC to 686 BC under kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, focusing on social justice and impending Assyrian judgment on both Israel and Judah for corruption and idolatry.^[51] Active in the 720s BC amid the northern kingdom's collapse, Micah critiqued the ruling elite's exploitation and advised repentance to avert disaster, predicting Jerusalem's potential siege but also eventual restoration.^[52] His counsel complemented Isaiah's, urging ethical governance over military pacts, and he is credited with swaying Hezekiah toward reforms that delayed Judah's full subjugation.^[53] In the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II (r. 722–705 BC), scholarly advisors known as ummânū (chief scribes) provided expertise in divination, omens, and administration to support imperial campaigns, including the 722 BC siege of Samaria, though specific names from this decade remain unattested in surviving records.^[54] These experts, drawn from Mesopotamian traditions and occasionally foreign scholars, informed royal decisions on rituals and strategy, reflecting a court reliant on empirical augury rather than named philosophical innovators.^[55]