Restoring the empire: Sargon's campaign to the west in 720/19 BCE

In the winter of 722/21 BCE, Sargon II 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 to the seriousness of the situation he faced. Only in his second year (720/19) was he able to undertake foreign military actions. The failed attempt to retake Babylon turned Sargon's campaign to the West into a matter of 'to be or not to be' for the empire. Without control of northern and southern Syria and the Mediterranean coast down to the border of Egypt, Assyria would revert to its pre-imperial stage. The western rebels, led by Yau-bi'di of Hamath, included Arpad, $imirra, Damascus and Samaria. Following the battles in northern Syria, Sargon moved south and re-established Assyrian presence as far as Raphiah. Absent from the reports of 720/19 BCE is reference to the kingdom of Judah, whose status vis-a-vis Assyria is the subject of much debate. Did Hezekiah rebel with the others, or did he maintain the vassal relationship with Assyria first undertaken by Ahaz? A review of the sparce sources suggests that Hezekiah pursued a policy characterized by shifts, typical of many rulers of those years, flirting with rebellion when the occasion seemed promising.