106 SUNG JIN PARK 1) Sargon II defeated the military alliance of the West under Shalmaneser V (from 725 BCE to 722 BCE) 2) Sargon II conquered Samaria under Shalmaneser V (722 BCE) 3) Sargon II suppressed 6,300 guilty army personnel and usurped the As- syrian throne (722 BCE) 4) Sargon II granted freedom from corvée service in the city of Assur (722 BCE) 5) Sargon II engaged the Elamites in battle at Der (720 BCE)29 Hebrew Union College Sung Jin PARK Jewish Institute of Religion 3101 Clifton Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45220 SUMMARY Most scholars accept the two-conquest model according to which Shal- maneser V conquered Samaria in 723/722 BCE but died shortly thereafter, and that Sargon II then suppressed the ancient city again in his second regnal year (720 BCE) after resolving the internal conflict in Assyria. This paper critically examines this model, discusses some problems regarding chronological order, and proposes a new historical reconstruction in support of one conquest. The probability of there having been propagandistic considerations motivating Sargon II’s scribes is also discussed. 29 I would like to express my gratitude to the late Professor D.B. WEISBERG of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his very helpful support and comments.