dec 1, 723 BC - Sargon II Prism

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There is some potential confusion around which king of Assyria actually defeated Samaria, since Sargon II, in a clay prism discovered in Nimrud, claims to have defeated Samaria himself — not Shalmaneser.
https://armstronginstitute.org/324-the-annals-of-sargon-evidence-of-bible-error-or-insight

That prism says, “The inhabitants of Samaria … I fought against them … I settled … them in the midst of Assyria. I repopulated Samaria more than before. I brought into it people from countries conquered by my hands ….”

However, both the history and the Bible do line up. How Shalmaneser V died is unclear, but it appears based on the small tidbits in the archaeological record that he was overthrown by Sargon II in some sort of coup in 722, the same year Samaria fell. Sargon then claimed the victory over Samaria as his own, despite not having been in control when it started.

The Biblical text in both 2 Kings 17:9 and 18:11 seem to indicate the intrigue by naming Shalmaneser explicitly as the king in charge of the siege, but just saying “a king of Assyria” led the people of Israel into captivity after the fall of the city.

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