king rusas vs sargon III Winning Against the Odds: Sargon II & the Urartu Campaign

Winning Against the Odds: Sargon II & the Urartu Campaign

 

 

It is often when one is faced with the most difficult circumstances that one is given the greatest opportunity for clarity. History provides ample evidence of this experience in showing how, when faced with seemingly impossible situations, people found a way to see beyond their situation and prevail against it.
These stories span centuries and civilizations but all have one thing in common: the heroic nature of the human spirit. Even in the midst of the most daunting circumstances, people can find a way to realize their objectives, sometimes against all odds, and emerge victorious.
One example of this is seen in the 714 BCE Assyrian campaign of Sargon II (reigned 722-705 BCE) against the kingdom of Urartu. While there are plenty of stories that epitomize perseverance and determination, this campaign exemplifies that virtue of the human spirit that helps one endure, and even triumph, when there seems little chance of success.

The Problem of Urartu

Sargon II of Assyria inherited a serious problem when he came to the throne in 722 BCE: the neighboring kingdom of Urartu. Urartu lay in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains, only 30 miles (48 kilometres) from the Assyrian border, and had grown in power throughout the 13th to the 11th centuries BCE. The Temple of Haldi, in the holy city of Mushashir in Urartu, had been an important pilgrimage center since the 3rd millennium BCE, and the offerings from kings, princes, nobility, and merchants filled its treasury.
The Urartians had grown in wealth from trade and from caravans of pilgrims coming to visit Mushashir. To ensure continued prosperity, the Urartians continually tried to keep the lowlands around their kingdom under their control. From their fortress in the mountains, they continually raided and annexed territories in the lowlands. The Urartians were fierce warriors who bred some of the best horses in the region and raised them specifically for combat.
Shalmaneser I (1274-1245 BCE) first mentioned Urartu in Assyrian inscriptions in relating his conquest of the kingdom but, since his time, the Urartians showed themselves resilient and resourceful in that, each time they were beaten, they rose again. Campaigns against them were launched by Sargon II’s predecessors Tiglath Pileser III (745-727 BCE) and Shalmaneser V (727-722 BCE) and both had seemed successful, but then the Urartians would return to harass the Assyrian borders and take Assyrian territory.

Early Attempts to Resolve the Problem

The Urartians were fierce warriors who bred some of the best horses in the region & raised them specifically for combat. 

In 719 and 717 BCE Sargon II had sent troops against the Urartians at his borders who had invaded and instigated conflict among the Assyrian settlements there. In 715 BCE Urartu mounted a full-scale invasion and took 22 Assyrian cities along the border. Sargon II retaliated by re-taking the cities, driving the Urartian forces out of Assyrian lands, and razing their southern provinces along the border.
He understood, however, that these kinds of invasions would continue, and he would have to repeatedly expend time and resources in dealing with them. In order to secure his empire against future incursions, Sargon II had to decisively defeat Urartu.

ref   https://www.ancient.eu/article/727/winning-against-the-odds-sargon-ii--the-urartu-cam/