title: British Rail Class 373

text: The lease expired in December 2005 and they were handed back to Eurostar; they were later used to operate high speed TGV services with SNCF in northern France.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: When being used for GNER services, the doors of the first and last carriages were locked out of use at some stations due to the units being too long to stop in the platforms.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: Due to restrictions in the power supply on the Hertford Loop Line, only one set was permitted to operate on that route at any one time. They were only allowed to run from King's Cross to York and Leeds because of gauging on the bridges approaching Newcastle. They were not allowed to travel to Bradford Forster Square because the electrical infrastructure beyond Leeds was insufficient. Manually locked selective door opening was used at shorter platforms.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: SNCF leased three of Eurostar's "Three Capitals" sets for use on French domestic TGV services (mainly between Paris and Lille). The sets remained in the original Eurostar livery with SNCF branding, and some sets had greyish white or silver front ends. In 2007, SNCF added more Class 373 sets to its fleet by leasing the redundant "North of London" sets from Eurostar. SNCF's lease of the sets was scheduled to last until 2011 with the option to keep the sets running for another two years.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: In October 2014, the three "Three Capitals" sets were withdrawn from traffic and stored, having been replaced by TGV Duplex sets. Some have since been scrapped having provided spare parts to other Class 373 sets with remaining sets still stored in Ambérieu, France.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: In November 2018, a Class 373 set consisting of 373213 and 373224 was introduced into service by IZY, the low-cost service that used to run between Paris and Brussels by Thalys, replacing a TGV Réseau train.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: Each power car has a four-digit number starting with "3" (3xxx). This designates the train as a Mark 3 TGV (Mark 1 being SNCF TGV Sud-Est; and Mark 2 being SNCF TGV Atlantique). The last digit denotes the country of ownership:


title: British Rail Class 373

text: As Standard Premier and Business Premier use the same seating, the number of carriages allocated to each class may be varied in line with demand.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: For the purpose of travel with Interrail, Eurail, and similar passes, Standard class is considered 2nd class and Standard Premier class is considered 1st class. Business Premier is considered to be above 1st class and pass users cannot travel in Business Premier without purchasing a full public rate ticket.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: Formations are described according to the British Rail convention. Plus symbols indicate couplings without shared bogies (see ).


title: British Rail Class 373

text: All Class 373 sets were built as tri-voltage, able to operate on (LGVs, Eurotunnel, High Speed 1, UK overhead electrified lines) and 3kVDC (Belgian classic lines) using pantographs, and 750VDC (UK third rail network) using third-rail pickup shoes. The shoes were retracted when switching to overhead power. After the opening of High Speed 1 in 2007, overhead electrification is used throughout; consequently, the third rail shoes were removed. Five of the SNCF-owned sets are quadri-voltage, able to operate from 1,500VDC (French "lignes classiques") in the south of France, used on London–Avignon and ski services.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: The trains are powered by asynchronous traction motors. There are four powered axles in each power car and two powered axles in the outer bogie of the front passenger coach (a layout used on the original SNCF TGV Sud-Est (PSE) sets) giving 12 powered axles. Each set draws up to 16MW with of traction power, but this provides the lowest power-to-weight ratio in the TGV family.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: The class uses five different standards of overhead: domestic catenary in each of Belgium, France and the United Kingdom; fixed-height catenary on LGV lines and HS1; and taller catenary in the Channel Tunnel, designed to accommodate double-deck car-carrying trains and roll-on roll-off heavy goods vehicle trains. The driver must manually lower and then raise the pantograph during the transition between catenary systems.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: When travelling at high speeds, it is not possible for the driver to accurately see colour-light signals at the side of the track. With the TVM signalling used on the high-speed lines, the target speed for the end of the current block is displayed with a flashing indication on the in-cab display for the next block if it is at a different speed. Auxiliary signalling information, including the location of neutral sections in the overhead supply and pantograph adjustment zones, is displayed in cab and by the lineside. The operation of circuit breakers over neutral sections is handled automatically on TVM-signalled lines only, and pantograph adjustments must always be manually performed by the driver.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: The Class 373 was designed to comply with the Channel Tunnel safety regulations, and consists of two independent half-sets, each with its own power car. Most of the trailer cars are supported on Jacobs bogies shared between adjacent coaches, supporting both of them, with the cars next to the power cars and the two middle coaches (carriages 9 and 10 in a full-length set) not articulated. Non-shared bogies are coupled with Scharfenberg couplers, providing three points for separation in the event of an emergency in the tunnel. The electrical supply cables between a power car and the first carriage are designed to break apart during an emergency separation. In the event of a serious fire in the tunnel the passengers would be transferred into the undamaged half of the train, which would then be uncoupled from the damaged half and driven out of the tunnel. If the undamaged part is the rear half of the train, this would be driven by the guard who is a fully authorised driver and occupies the rear driving cab in the tunnel for this purpose. Due to limitations on driving hours, the driver and guard exchange roles for the return journey.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: The articulated design is advantageous during a derailment as the carriages will tend to stay aligned. On non-articulated trains couplings may break and the carriages may jackknife. A disadvantage of articulation is that it is difficult to remove and separate the individual carriages for maintenance. Although the power cars can be uncoupled, specialised depot equipment is needed to split carriages by lifting the entire train at once. Once uncoupled, one of the carriage ends is left without a bogie at the point of separation, so a bogie frame is required to support it.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: A train travelling at can slow down to stop in 65seconds, during which time the braking distance is about .


title: British Rail Class 373

text: To combat the hypnotic effect of driving through the tunnel at speed for 20 minutes, the power cars have a very small windscreen when compared to other high-speed trains and TGVs.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: On 5 June 2000, 373101/102 on a Paris to London service derailed on LGV Nord near Arras, France at . 14 people were treated for light injuries or shock, with no serious injures or fatalities. The articulated design was credited with maintaining stability during the incident and the train stayed upright. After investigation, the incident was blamed on a component of the transmission between the motors and axles coming loose. To reduce the unsprung mass, TGV trains have the motors attached to the train rather than the bogies. In order for the train to be able to go around curves a sliding "tripod" assembly is used, which became dislodged.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: There have been several minor incidents. In October 1994, there were teething problems relating to the start of operations. The first preview train, carrying 400 members of the press and media, was delayed for two hours by technical issues. On 29 May 2002 a set was accidentally routed towards Victoria instead of London Waterloo, causing it to arrive 25 minutes late. The signalling error that led to the incorrect routeing was stated to have caused "no risk" as a result.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: During the night of 18–19 December 2009, there was heavy snow causing widespread disruption to roads, railways and airports across northern Europe. Five trains (one of which was 373217 + 373218) broke down inside the Channel Tunnel because snow in the engine compartment was melted by warmer temperatures in the tunnel, the resulting water causing electrical and control system faults. Eurostar commissioned an independent report to evaluate what went wrong and how future events could be prevented or better managed. The report's recommendations included:


title: British Rail Class 373

text: On 30 July 2003, on the opening press run of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Section 1, 373313/314 established a new British rail speed record of , breaking the previous record of set by an Advanced Passenger Train on 20 December 1979.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: On 16 May 2006 373209/210 created a record for the longest non-stop high-speed journey when it made the journey from London to Cannes in 7 hours 25 minutes. This was a publicity event for the "Da Vinci Code" film; the train carried actors Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou and director Ron Howard, who had jointly named the train "The Da Vinci Code" prior to departing for the film premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: On 4 September 2007 the first revenue train to use High Speed 1 to St Pancras set a new speed record: it left Paris at 09:44 BST and arrived at St Pancras two hours three minutes and 39 seconds later. Officials aboard recorded speeds of up to in France and in Britain.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: On several occasions sets appeared at special events and displays, such as at Lille Flandres in 1995, Rotterdam Centraal Station on 6 April 1996, Berlin-Grunewald station for Eurailspeed 1998, Madrid Chamartín railway station for Eurailspeed 2002 and at the York National Railway Museum for the Railfest 200 celebrations in 2004.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: To celebrate ten years of Eurostar service, a barge was floated down the River Thames in London on 16 November 2004, with a power car on board, specially painted by Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell. Named ""Language of Places on Eurostar"" by Langlands and Bell, it consisted of the three-letter "destination codes for all the places where Eurostar goes or connects". The barge went under Tower Bridge, past the Houses of Parliament and moored beside the museum-warship HMS Belfast.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: At the beginning of August 2015, ex North of London powercar 373308 was added to the national collection and put on display at the National Railway Museum in York.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: In 1995, Hornby Railways launched its first version of the Eurostar in HO gauge which can be extended from four to six cars, while Kato have produced it in N gauge which can be extended from eight to the full 20 cars. Both manufacturers have made versions in the original and new e300 liveries.


title: British Rail Class 373

text: Hornby Railways then produced a OO gauge train pack model which was released in October 1996, which again can be extended from four cars to six cars.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is generally believed to have become king after overthrowing Shalmaneser V (727–722), probably his brother. He is typically considered the founder of a new dynastic line, the Sargonid dynasty.


title: Sargon II

text: Modelling his reign on the legends of the ancient rulers Sargon of Akkad, from whom Sargon II likely took his regnal name, and Gilgamesh, Sargon aspired to conquer the known world, initiate a golden age and a new world order, and be remembered and revered by future generations. Over the course of his seventeen-year reign, Sargon substantially expanded Assyrian territory and enacted important political and military reforms. An accomplished warrior-king and military strategist, Sargon personally led his troops into battle. By the end of his reign, all of his major enemies and rivals had been either defeated or pacified. Among Sargon's greatest accomplishments were the stabilization of Assyrian control over the Levant, the weakening of the northern kingdom of Urartu, and the reconquest of Babylonia. From 717 to 707, Sargon constructed a new Assyrian capital named after himself, Dur-Sharrukin ('Fort Sargon'), which he made his official residence in 706.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon considered himself to have been divinely mandated to maintain and ensure justice. Like other Assyrian kings, Sargon at times enacted brutal punishments against his enemies but there are no known cases of atrocities against civilians from his reign. He worked to assimilate and integrate conquered foreign peoples into the empire and extended the same rights and obligations to them as native Assyrians. He forgave defeated enemies on several occasions and maintained good relations with foreign kings and with the ruling classes of the lands he conquered. Sargon also increased the influence and status of both women and scribes at the royal court.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon embarked on his final campaign, against Tabal in Anatolia, in 705. He was killed in battle and the Assyrian army was unable to retrieve his body, preventing a traditional burial. According to ancient Mesopotamian religion, he was cursed to remain a restless ghost for eternity. Sargon's fate was a major psychological blow for the Assyrians and damaged his legacy. Sargon's son Sennacherib was deeply disturbed by his father's death and believed that he must have committed some grave sin. As a result, Sennacherib distanced himself from Sargon. Sargon was barely mentioned in later ancient literature and nearly completely forgotten until the ruins of Dur-Sharrukin were discovered in the 19th century. He was not fully accepted in Assyriology as a real king until the 1860s. Due to his conquests and reforms, Sargon is today considered one of the most important Assyrian kings.


title: Sargon II

text: Nothing is known of Sargon II's life before he became king. He was probably born 770 BC and cannot have been born later than 760 BC. His reign was immediately preceded by those of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727) and Tiglath-Pileser's son Shalmaneser V (727–722). Although Sargon is generally regarded as the founder of a new dynastic line, the Sargonid dynasty, he was probably a scion of the incumbent Adaside dynasty. Sargon grew up during the reigns of Ashur-dan III (773–755 BC) and Ashur-nirari V (755–745 BC), when rebellion and plague affected the Neo-Assyrian Empire; the prestige and power of Assyria dramatically declined. This trend reversed during the tenure of Tiglath-Pileser, who reduced the influence of powerful officials, reformed the army and more than doubled the size of the empire. In contrast to Tiglath-Pileser, little is recorded of Shalmaneser's brief reign.


title: Sargon II

text: Whereas kings typically elaborated on their origin in inscriptions, Sargon stated that the Assyrian national deity Ashur had called him to the throne. Sargon mentioned his origin in just two known inscriptions, where he referred to himself as Tiglath-Pileser's son, and in the Borowski Stele, probably from Hama in Syria, which referenced his "royal fathers". Most historians cautiously accept that Sargon was Tiglath-Pileser's son but not the legitimate heir to the throne as the next-in-line after Shalmaneser. If Sargon was Tiglath-Pileser's son, his mother might have been the queen Iaba. Some Assyriologists, such as Natalie Naomi May, have suggested that Sargon was a member of a collateral branch of the Adaside dynasty from the western part of the empire. In Babylonia, Sargon and his successors were considered part of the "dynasty of Hanigalbat" (a western territory), while earlier Assyrian kings were considered part of the "dynasty of Baltil" (Baltil being the name of the oldest portion of the ancient Assyrian capital of Assur). Perhaps Sargon was connected to a junior branch of the royal dynasty established at Hanigalbat centuries earlier. Some Assyriologists, such as John Anthony Brinkman, believe that Sargon did not belong to the direct dynastic lineage.


title: Sargon II

text: The Babylonian Chronicles report that Shalmaneser died in January 722 and was succeeded in the same month by Sargon, who was between forty and fifty years old. The exact events surrounding his accession are not clear. Some historians such as Josette Elayi believe that Sargon legitimately inherited the throne. Most scholars however believe him to have been a usurper; one theory is that Sargon killed Shalmaneser and seized the throne in a palace coup. Sargon rarely referenced his predecessors and, upon accession, faced massive domestic opposition. Shalmaneser probably had sons of his own who could have inherited the throne, such as the palace official Ashur-dain-aplu, who retained a prominent position under the Sargonid kings. Sargon's only known reference to Shalmaneser describes Ashur punishing him for his policies:


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon did not otherwise hold Shalmaneser responsible for the policies placed on Assur, since he wrote elsewhere that most of these had been enacted in the distant past. Tiglath-Pileser, not Shalmaneser, imposed forced labor on the residents of Assur. Several of Shalmaneser's policies and acts were revoked by Sargon. Hullî, a king in Tabal (a region in Anatolia) deported by Shalmaneser, was reinstalled and Sargon reversed Shalmaneser's attempt to decrease trade with Egypt.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon II was the first king in more than a thousand years to bear the name Sargon. There were two Mesopotamian kings of the same name before his reign: Sargon I, a minor Assyrian king of the 19th century BC (after whom Sargon II is enumerated by modern historians), and the far more prominent 24th–23rd century BC Sargon of Akkad, conqueror of large parts of Mesopotamia and the founder of the Akkadian Empire. Sargon was probably an assumed regnal name. Royal names in ancient Mesopotamia were deliberate choices, setting the tone for a king's reign. Sargon most likely chose the name due to its use by Sargon of Akkad. In late Assyrian texts, the names of Sargon II and Sargon of Akkad are written with the same spelling. Sargon II is sometimes explicitly called the "second Sargon" ("Šarru-kīn arkû"). Though the precise extent of the ancient Sargon's conquests had been forgotten, the legendary ruler was still remembered as a "conqueror of the world". Sargon II also energetically pursued the expansion of his own empire.


title: Sargon II

text: In addition to the name's historical connections, Sargon connected his regnal name to justice. In several inscriptions, Sargon described his name as akin to a divine mandate to ensure that his people lived just lives, for instance in an inscription in which Sargon described how he reimbursed the owners of the land he chose to construct his new capital city of Dur-Sharrukin on:


title: Sargon II

text: The name was most commonly written "Šarru-kīn", although "Šarru-ukīn", is also attested. Sargon's name is commonly interpreted as "the faithful king" in the sense of righteousness and justice. Another alternative is that "Šarru-kīn" is a phonetic reproduction of the contracted pronunciation of "Šarru-ukīn" to "Šarrukīn", which means that it should be interpreted as "the king has obtained/established order", possibly referencing disorder either under his predecessor or caused by Sargon's usurpation. "Šarru-kīn" can also be interpreted as "the legitimate king" or "the true king" and it could have been chosen because Sargon was not the legitimate heir to the throne. The ancient Sargon of Akkad also became king through usurpation. The origin of the conventional modern version of the name, Sargon, is not entirely clear but it is probably based on the spelling in the Hebrew Bible ("srgwn").


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon's reign began with large-scale resistance against his rule in Assyria's heartland. Although quickly suppressed, this political instability led several peripheral regions to regain independence. In early 721, Marduk-apla-iddina II, a Chaldean warlord of the Bit-Yakin tribe, captured Babylon, restored Babylonian independence after eight years of Assyrian rule and allied with the eastern realm of Elam. Though Sargon considered Marduk-apla-iddina's seizure of Babylonia to be unacceptable, an attempt to defeat him in battle near Der in 720 was unsuccessful. At the same time, Yahu-Bihdi of Hama in Syria assembled a coalition of minor states in the northern Levant to oppose Assyrian dominion.


title: Sargon II

text: In addition to these revolts, Sargon may have had to deal with unfinished conflicts from Shalmaneser's reign. At some point in the 720s, the Assyrians captured Samaria after a siege lasting several years and ended the Kingdom of Israel. Sargon claimed to have conquered the city, but it is more likely that Shalmaneser captured the city since both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Hebrew Bible viewed the fall of Israel as the signature event of his reign. Sargon's claim to conquering it may be related to the city being captured again after Yahu-Bihdi's revolt. Either Shalmaneser or Sargon ordered the dispersal of Samaria's population across the Assyrian Empire, following the standard resettlement policy. This specific resettlement resulted in the loss of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. In his inscriptions, Sargon claimed to have resettled 27,280 Israelites. Though likely emotionally damaging for the resettled populace, the Assyrians valued deportees for their labor and generally treated them well, transporting them in safety and comfort together with their families and belongings.


title: Sargon II

text: Shortly after his failure to retake Babylonia from Marduk-apla-iddina in 720, Sargon campaigned against Yahu-Bihdi. Among Yahu-Bihdi's supporters were the cities of Arpad, Damascus, Sumur and Samaria. Three of the cities participating in the revolt (Arpad, Sumur and Damascus) were not vassal states; their lands had been converted into Assyrian provinces governed by royally appointed Assyrian governors. The revolt threatened to undo the administrative system established in Syria by Sargon's predecessors and the insurgents went on a killing spree, murdering all local Assyrians they could find.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon engaged Yahu-Bihdi and his coalition at Qarqar on the Orontes. Defeated, Yahu-Bihdi escaped into Qarqar, which Sargon besieged and captured. Sargon's army destroyed Qarqar and devastated the surrounding lands. Yahu-Bihdi was first deported to Assyria together with his family and then flayed alive. Hama and the other insurgent cities were annexed again. At the same time as large numbers of people from Syria were resettled in other parts of the empire, Sargon resettled some people to Syria, including 6,300 "guilty Assyrians", presumably Assyrians from the heartland who had fought against Sargon upon his accession but whose lives had been spared. Sargon described their resettlement as an act of mercy: "their transgression I disregarded, I had mercy on them".


title: Sargon II

text: Around the same time as Yahu-Bihdu, Hanunu of Gaza in the south also rebelled against Assyria. After Sargon had defeated Yahu-Bihdu, he marched south. After capturing some other cities on his way, probably including Ekron and Gibbethon, the Assyrians defeated Hanunu, whose army had been bolstered by allies from Egypt, at Rafah. Despite the transgression, Gaza was kept as a semi-autonomous vassal state and not outright annexed, perhaps because the location, on the border of Egypt, was of high strategic importance.


title: Sargon II

text: A pressing concern for Sargon was the kingdom of Urartu in the north. Though no longer as powerful as it had been in the past, when it at times rivalled Assyria in strength and influence, Urartu still remained an alternative suzerain for many smaller states in the north. In 718, Sargon intervened in Mannea, one of these states. This campaign was as much a military effort as it was a diplomatic one; King Iranzu of Mannea had been an Assyrian vassal for more than 25 years and had requested Sargon to aid him. A rebellion by the Urartu-aligned noble Mitatti occupied half of Iranzu's kingdom, but thanks to Sargon Mitatti's uprising was suppressed. Shortly after the victory over the rebels, Iranzu died and Sargon intervened in the succession, supporting Iranzu's son Aza rise to the throne of Mannea. Another son, Ullusunu, contested his brother's accession and was supported in his efforts against him by Rusa I of Urartu.


title: Sargon II

text: Another of Sargon's prominent foreign enemies was the powerful and expansionist Midas of Phrygia in central Anatolia. Sargon worried about a possible alliance between Phrygia and Urartu and Midas' use of proxy warfare by encouraging Assyrian vassal states to rebel. Sargon could not fight against Midas directly but had to deal with uprisings by his vassals among the Syro-Hittite states, most of them located in remote locations in the mountains of southern Anatolia. It was crucial to keep control over the regions of Tabal and Quwê to prevent communication between Midas and Rusa. Tabal—several minor states competing with each other, contested between Assyria, Phrygia and Urartu—was particularly important since it was rich in natural resources (including silver). Sargon campaigned against Tabal in 718, mostly against Kiakki of Shinuhtu, who withheld tribute and conspired with Midas. Sargon could not conquer Tabal because of its isolation and difficult terrain. Instead, Shinuhtu was given to a rival Tabalian ruler, Kurtî of Atunna. Kurtî conspired with Midas at some point between 718 and 713, but later maintained his allegiance to Sargon.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon returned to Syria in 717 to defeat an uprising led by Pisiri of Carchemish, who had supported Sargon during Yahu-Bihdu's revolt but was now plotting with Midas to overthrow Assyrian hegemony in the region. The uprising was defeated and the population of Carchemish was deported and replaced with Assyrians. The city and its surrounding lands were turned into an Assyrian province and an Assyrian palace was constructed. The conquest might have inspired Sargon to build his own new capital city (Dur-Sharrukin), a project which could be financed with the silver plundered from Carchemish. Sargon took so much silver from Carchemish that silver began to replace copper as the currency of the empire. Despite Sargon's repeated victories in the west, the Levant was not fully stabilized.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon established a new trading post near the border of Egypt in 716, staffed it with people deported from various conquered lands and placed it under the local Arab ruler Laban, an Assyrian vassal. In later writings, Sargon for unknown reasons falsely claimed that he in this year also subjugated the people of Egypt. In actuality, Sargon is recorded to have engaged in diplomacy with Pharaoh Osorkon IV, who gifted Sargon with twelve horses.


title: Sargon II

text: In 716, Sargon campaigned between Urartu and Elam, perhaps part of a strategy to weaken these enemies. Passing through Mannea, Sargon attacked Media, probably to establish control there and neutralize the region as a potential threat before confronting either Urartu or Elam. The local Medes were disunited and posed no serious threat to Assyria. After Sargon defeated them and established Assyrian provinces, he let the established local lords continue to rule their respective cities as vassals. Supplanting them and integrating the lands further into the imperial bureaucracy would have been costly and time-consuming due to their remoteness. As part of this eastern campaign, Sargon defeated some local rebels, including Bag-dati of Uishdish and Bel-sharru-usur of Kisheshim. In Mannea, Ullusunu had succeeded in taking the throne from his brother Aza. Instead of deposing Ullusunu and proclaiming a new king, Sargon accepted Ullusunu's submission and endorsed him as king, forgiving his uprising and gaining his allegiance.


title: Sargon II

text: Urartu remained Sargon's main strategic rival in the north. In 715, Urartu was severely weakened by an unsuccessful expedition against the Cimmerians, a nomadic people in the central Caucasus. The Cimmerians defeated the Urartian army and raided Urartian lands as far as immediately south-west of Lake Urmia. Ullusunu of Mannea had switched his loyalty to Assyria. Rusa seized some of Ullusunu's fortresses and replaced him with Daiukku as the new king. Months later, Sargon invaded Mannea, recaptured Ullusunu's fortresses and restored him to the throne. Rusa attempted to drive Sargon back, but his army was defeated in the foothills of Sahand. Sargon also received the tribute of Ianzu, king of Nairi, another former Urartian vassal. Preparing for a campaign against Rusa, Sargon defeated some minor rebels in Media. In Anatolia, Urik of Quwê, changed his allegiance from Sargon to Midas of Phrygia and began sending envoys to Rusa. To prevent the formation of a northern alliance, Sargon attacked Quwê, defeating Urik and recapturing some cities that had fallen to Midas. Quwê was abolished as a vassal kingdom and annexed.


title: Sargon II

text: Suspecting an Assyrian invasion, Rusa kept most of his army by Lake Urmia, close to the Assyrian border, which was already fortified against Assyrian invasion. The shortest path from Assyria to the Urartian heartland went through the "Kel-i-šin" pass in the Taurus Mountains. One of the most important places in all of Urartu, the holy city Musasir, was located just west of this pass and was protected by fortifications. Rusa ordered the construction of the "Gerdesorah", a new fortress strategically positioned on a hill. The "Gerdesorah" was still under construction when the Assyrians invaded.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon left the Assyrian capital of Nimrud in July 714. Rejecting the shortest route through the "Kel-i-šin" pass, Sargon marched his army through the valleys of the Great and Little Zab for three days before halting near Mount Kullar (the location of which remains unidentified). There Sargon chose a longer route through Kermanshah, probably since he knew the Urartians anticipated him attacking through the pass. The longer route delayed the Assyrians with mountains and greater distance. The campaign had to be completed before October, when the mountain passes would become blocked by snow. This meant that conquest, if that had been the intention, would not be possible.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon reached Gilzanu, near Lake Urmia, and made camp. The Urartian forces regrouped and built new fortifications west and south of Lake Urmia. Though Sargon's forces had been granted supplies and water by his vassals in Media, his troops were exhausted and nearly mutinous. When Rusa arrived, the Assyrian army refused to fight. Sargon assembled his bodyguards and led them in a near-suicidal charge against the nearest wing of the Urartian forces. Sargon's army followed him, defeated the Urartians, and chased them west, far past Lake Urmia. Rusa abandoned his forces and fled into the mountains.


title: Sargon II

text: On their way home, the Assyrians destroyed the "Gerdesorah" and captured and plundered Musasir after the local governor, king Urzana, refused to welcome Sargon. An enormous quantity of spoils were carried back to Assyria. Urzana was forgiven and allowed to continue to govern Musasair as an Assyrian vassal. Though Urartu remained powerful and Rusa retook Musasir, the 714 campaign put an end to direct confrontations between Urartu and Assyria for the rest of Sargon's reign. Sargon considered the campaign one of the major events of his reign. It was described in exceptional detail in his inscriptions and several of the reliefs in his palace were decorated with representations of the sack of Musasir.


title: Sargon II

text: The foundations of Dur-Sharrukin ("fortress of Sargon") were laid in 717. Dur-Sharrukin was built between the Husur river and Mount Musri, near the village of Magganabba, around northeast of Nineveh. The new city could use water from Mount Musri but the location otherwise lacked obvious practical or political merit. In one of his inscriptions, Sargon alluded to fondness for the foothills of Mount Musri: "following the prompting of my heart, I built a city at the foot of Mount Musri, in the plain of Nineveh, and named it Dur-Sharrukin". Since no buildings had ever been constructed at the chosen location, previous architecture did not have to be taken into account and he conceived the new city as an "ideal city", its proportions based on mathematical harmony. There were various numerical and geometrical correspondences between different aspects of the city and Dur-Sharrukin's city walls formed a nearly perfect square.


title: Sargon II

text: The numerous surviving sources on the construction of the city include inscriptions carved on the walls of its buildings, reliefs depicting the process and over a hundred letters and other documents describing the work. The chief coordinator was Tab-shar-Ashur, Sargon's chief treasurer, but at least twenty-six governors from across the empire were also associated with the construction; Sargon made the project a collaborative effort by the whole empire. Sargon took an active personal interest in the progress and frequently intervened in nearly all aspects of the work, from commenting on architectural details to overseeing material transportation and the recruitment of labor. Sargon's frequent input and efforts to encourage more work is probably the main reason for how the city could be completed so fast and efficiently. Sargon's encouragement was at times lenient, particularly when dealing with grumbling among the workers, but at other times threatening. One of his letters to the governor of Nimrud, requesting building materials, reads as follows:


title: Sargon II

text: Dur-Sharrukin reflected Sargon's self-image and how he wished the empire to see him. At about three square kilometers (1.2 square miles), the city was one of the largest in antiquity. The city's palace, which Sargon called a "palace without rival", was built on a huge artificial platform on the northern side of the city and was fortified with a wall of its own. At 100,000 square meters (10 hectares; 25 acres), it was the largest Assyrian palace ever built. It was richly decorated with reliefs, statues, glazed bricks and stone "lamassus" (human-headed bulls). Other prominent structures in the city included temples, a building in the southwest called the arsenal ("ekal mâšarti"), and a great park, which included exotic plants from throughout the empire. The city's surrounding wall was high and thick, reinforced at 15-meter (49 ft) intervals with more than two hundred bastions. The internal wall was named Ashur, the external wall Ninurta, the city's seven gates Shamash, Adad, Enlil, Anu, Ishtar, Ea and Belet-ili after gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon.


title: Sargon II

text: In the years following the campaign against Rusa, Sargon worked to retain the loyalty of his northern vassals and to curb the influence of Elam; though Elam itself did not pose a threat towards Assyria, it would not be possible to reconquer Babylonia without first breaking Marduk-apla-iddina's alliance with the Elamites. In 713, Sargon campaigned in the Zagros Mountains again, defeating a revolt in the land of Karalla, meeting with Ullusunu and receiving some tribute. In the same year, Sargon sent his "turtanu" (commander-in-chief) to help Talta of Ellipi, an Assyrian vassal beyond the Zagros Mountains. Sargon probably considered it important to keep good relations with Ellipi since it was a key buffer state between Assyria and Elam. Talta was threatened by a revolt, but after Assyrian intervention he retained his throne.


title: Sargon II

text: Rusa still intended to extend Urartian influence into southern Anatolia despite Sargon's 714 victory. In 713 Sargon campaigned against Tabal in southern Anatolia again, trying to secure the kingdom's natural resources (mainly silver and wood, required for the construction of Dur-Sharrukin) and to prevent Urartu from establishing control and contacting Phrygia. Sargon used a divide and rule approach in Tabal; territory was distributed between the different Tabalian rulers to prevent any one of them from growing strong enough to present a problem. Sargon also encouraged the loose hegemony of the strongest Tabalian state, Bit-Purutash (sometimes called "Tabal proper" by modern historians), over the other Tabalian rulers. The king of Bit-Purutash, Ambaris, was granted Sargon's daughter Ahat-Abisha in marriage and some additional territory. This strategy was not successful; Ambaris began conspiring with the other rulers of Tabal and with Rusa and Midas. Sargon deposed Ambaris, deporting him to Assyria, and annexed Tabal.


title: Sargon II

text: The Philistine city of Ashdod rebelled under its king Azuri in 713, and was crushed by Sargon or one of his generals. Azuri was replaced as king by Ahi-Miti. In 712 the vassal king Tarhunazi of Kammanu in northern Syria rebelled against Assyria, seeking to ally with Midas. Tahunazi had been placed on his throne during Sargon's 720 campaign in the Levant. This revolt was dealt with by Sargon's "turtanu"; Tarhunazi was defeated and his lands were annexed. His capital, Melid, was given to Mutallu of Kummuh. Mutallu was a trusted ally since the kings of Kummuh had long maintained good relations with the Assyrian court. After the Assyrian army defeated a revolt by the kingdom of Gurgum in 711 and it was annexed, Sargon's control of southern Anatolia became relatively stable. Shortly after Sargon's victory, Ashdod revolted again. The locals deposed Ahi-Miti and in his stead proclaimed a noble named Yamani as king. In 712, Yamani approached Judah and Egypt for an alliance but the Egyptians refused Yamani's offer, maintaining good relations with Sargon. After the Assyrians defeated Yamani in 711 and Ashdod was destroyed, Yamani escaped to Egypt and was extradited to Assyria by Pharaoh Shebitku in 707.


title: Sargon II

text: In 710, Sargon decided to reconquer Babylonia. To justify the impending expedition, Sargon proclaimed that the Babylonian national deity Marduk had commanded him to liberate the south from the evil Marduk-apla-iddina. Though Babylonia and Elam still maintained good relations, the military alliance between the two had disintegrated. Sargon used diplomacy to convince cities and tribes within Babylonia to betray Marduk-apla-iddina. Through secret negotiations, several tribes and cities in northern Babylonia were won over, including the city of Sippar and the tribes Bit-Dakkuri and Bit-Amukkani.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon invaded Babylonia by marching alongside the eastern bank of the river Tigris until he reached the city of Dur-Athara, which had been fortified by Marduk-apla-iddina but was quickly defeated and renamed Dur-Nabu. Sargon created a new province surrounding the city, Gambulu. Dur-Athara might have been seized specifically to prevent the Elamites from sending any significant aid to Marduk-apla-iddina. Sargon spent some time at Dur-Athara, sending his soldiers on expeditions to the east and south to convince cities and tribes to submit to his rule. Sargon's forces defeated a contingent of Aramean and Elamite soldiers by a river referred to as the Uknu. Once Sargon crossed the Tigris and one of the branches of the Euphrates and arrived at the city Dur-Ladinni, near Babylon, Marduk-apla-iddina became frightened. He may have had little support from the people and priesthood of Babylon or had lost most of his army at Dur-Athara. Marduk-apla-iddina fled to Elam, where he unsuccessfully petitioned King Shutruk-Nahhunte II for aid.


title: Sargon II

text: After Marduk-apla-iddina's departure, Sargon met little opposition on his march south. The people of Babylon opened the gates with enthusiasm and he made a triumphal entry. Elayi speculated in 2017 that Sargon may have made an agreement with the city's priests, who might have preferred Assyrian rule over a Chaldean king. After some ceremonies in the city, Sargon relocated with his army to Kish to continue the war and suppress remaining resistance. Marduk-apla-iddina returned to Mesopotamia, taking up residence in his home city of Dur-Yakin and continuing to resist.


title: Sargon II

text: Dur-Yakin was fortified, a great ditch was dug surrounding its walls and the surrounding countryside was flooded through a canal dug from the Euphrates. Guarded by the flooded terrain, Marduk-apla-iddina set up his camp outside the city walls. His forces were defeated by Sargon's army, which had crossed through the flooded terrain unimpeded. Marduk-apla-iddina fled into the city as the Assyrians began collecting spoils of war from his fallen soldiers. Sargon besieged Dur-Yakin but was unable to take the city. As the siege dragged on, negotiations were started and in 709 it was agreed that the city would surrender and tear down its exterior walls in exchange for Sargon sparing Marduk-apla-iddina's life. Marduk-apla-iddina, along with his family and supporters, were granted passage to Elam to live in exile.


title: Sargon II

text: After he took Babylon in 710, Sargon was proclaimed king of Babylon by the citizens of the city and spent the next three years in Babylon, in Marduk-apla-iddina's palace. Affairs in Assyria were in these years overseen by Sargon's son Sennacherib. Sargon participated in the annual Babylonian "Akitu" (New Years) festival and received homage and gifts from rulers of lands as far away from the heartland of his empire as Bahrain and Cyprus. Sargon engaged himself in various domestic affairs in Babylonia, digging a new canal from Borsippa to Babylon and defeating a people called the Hamaranaeans that had been plundering caravans near Sippar. In Sargon's inscriptions from this time, he used some traditionally Babylonian elements in his royal titles and frequently mentioned deities popular in Babylonia rather than those popular in Assyria. Some Assyrians, even members of the royal family, disagreed with Sargon's pro-Babylonian attitude.


title: Sargon II

text: In Sargon's absence, developments in the rest of the empire were dealt with by his officials and generals. Midas of Phrygia remained a threat to Assyrian interests; to ensure that communication and trade remained open to Assyrian vassals in Anatolia, the Assyrians carefully monitored him. In 709, the Assyrian governor of Quwê, Ashur-sharru-usur personally resolved to end the Phrygian threat. His raids into Phrygia and the capture of a mountain fortress, perhaps Hilakku, frightened Midas, who willingly became Sargon's vassal.


title: Sargon II

text: In 709, Assyria sent an expedition to Cyprus. This was the first time that the Assyrians gained detailed knowledge of the island. Sargon did not personally participate in the campaign and the Assyrians relied on their Levantine vassals for transportation. Because Cyprus was far away, actually controlling the island would have been difficult, but the campaign resulted in several Cypriote rulers paying tribute to Sargon. After the departure of the expedition, the Cypriotes, probably with the aid of an Assyrian stonemason sent by the royal court, fashioned the Sargon Stele. The stele was an ideological marker indicating the boundary of the Assyrian king's sphere of influence and to mark the incorporation of Cyprus into the Assyrians' "known world". Since it had the king's image and words on it, it served as a representation of Sargon and a substitute for his presence.


title: Sargon II

text: In 709, one of Sargon's officers besieged the Phoenician city of Tyre after its leader refused to ally with Assyria. It proved to be one of the few military blunders of Sargon's time; the city resisted the Assyrians for several years until Sargon's death, after which the Assyrian army left. In 708, Mutallu of Kummuh withheld his tribute to Assyria for unknown reasons and allied with the new Urartian king Argishti II. Sargon sent one of his officers to capture Kummuh. The Assyrians heavily plundered Kummuh and annexed its lands. Mutallu survived, probably escaping to Urartu.


title: Sargon II

text: Dur-Sharrukin was completed in 707 after a decade of construction. Sargon returned to Assyria to prepare the city's inauguration. A year later, he moved the royal court to Dur-Sharrukin. The inauguration began with Sargon "inviting the gods" to Dur-Sharrukin, placing statues of various gods in the city's temples. Sargon invited "princes of (all) countries, the governors of my land, scribes and superintendents, nobles, officials and elders of Assyria" to a great feast. The common people who had helped build the city were also invited to partake in the celebration, dining in the same hall as the king. Already shortly after its inauguration, the new capital was densely populated.


title: Sargon II

text: Few sources survive describing Sargon's final campaign and death. Based on the Assyrian Eponym List and the Babylonian Chronicles, the most likely course of events is that Sargon embarked to campaign against Tabal, which had risen up against him, in the early summer of 705. This campaign was the last of several attempts to bring Tabal under Assyrian control. It is not clear why Sargon resolved to lead the expedition against Tabal in person, considering the large number of campaigns led by his officials and generals. Tabal was not a real threat against the Assyrian Empire. Elayi believes that the most likely explanation is that Sargon saw the expedition as an interesting diversion from the quiet court life of Dur-Sharrukin.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon's final campaign ended in disaster. Somewhere in Anatolia, Gurdî of Kulumma, an otherwise poorly attested figure, attacked the Assyrian camp. Gurdî has variously been assumed to have been a local ruler in Anatolia or a tribal leader of the Cimmerians, during this time allied with the rebels in Tabal. In the ensuing battle, Sargon was killed. The Assyrian soldiers fleeing from the attack were unable to recover the king's body. Sargon died just over a year after the inauguration of Dur-Sharrukin.


title: Sargon II

text: In addition to Shalmaneser V probably being Sargon's brother, Sargon had a younger brother, Sin-ahu-usur ("Sîn-ahu-usur"), who was by 714 the commander of Sargon's royal cavalry guard. After the inauguration of Dur-Sharrukin in 706, he was granted his own residence in the new capital. He appears to have held the influential position of grand vizier.


title: Sargon II

text: Two wives of Sargon are known: Ra'ima ("Ra'īmâ") and Atalia ("Ataliā"). Atalia was Sargon's queen; her tomb was discovered in Nimrud in 1989. The general assumption among researchers is that Assyrian kings could have multiple wives, but only one woman at a time could be recognized as queen. Sennacherib was once believed to have been Atalia's son, but he is now known to have been the son of Ra'ima, since a stele from Assur, translated in 2014, explicitly refers to Ra'ima as his mother. There is no evidence that Ra'ima was ever Sargon's queen. Atalia is believed to have outlived Sargon and her remains found in 1989 indicate that she was aged approximately 30–35 at the time of death. Ra'ima must have been significantly older than Atalia given that she gave birth to Sennacherib 745. It is possible that Ra'ima also outlived Sargon since an inscription written by Sennacherib 692 BC references her, though it might have been written after her death.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon had at least two sons before Sennacherib was born, though they died prior to Sennacherib's birth, indicated by Sennacherib's name, "Sîn-ahhī-erība" in Akkadian, meaning "[the god] Sîn has replaced the brothers". Like Sennacherib, the older sons were presumably sons of Ra'ima. Sennacherib, who succeeded Sargon as king (705–681), was an adult at the time of Sargon's accession. He was named crown prince early in Sargon's reign and assisted his father in running the empire; he helped collect and summarize intelligence reports from the Assyrian spy network. Sargon had at least two children younger than Sennacherib, though their names are unknown. Their existence is indicated by a letter from Sargon's reign mentioning "Sennacherib, the crown prince ... [and all] the princes/children of the king (who are) [in] Assyria". Sargon's only known daughter was Ahat-Abisha ("Ahat-Abiša"), who married Ambaris of Tabal. When Ambaris was dethroned by Sargon in 713, Ahat-Abisha probably returned to Assyria.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon II was a warrior-king and conqueror who commanded his armies in person and dreamt of conquering the world like Sargon of Akkad. Sargon assumed traditional Mesopotamian titles relating to world domination, such as "king of the universe" and "king of the four corners of the world", and great power, including "great king" and "mighty king". Although Neo-Assyrian kings' titles were formulaic, they typically used additional epithets to highlight their unique qualities and aspirations. Sargon's epithets present him as if he were an invincible warlord, for example, "mighty hero, clothed with terror, who sends forth his weapon to bring low the foe, brave warrior, since the day of whose (accession) to rulership, there has been no prince equal to him, who has been without conqueror or rival". Sargon wished to be seen as an omnipresent and eager warrior. Sargon is unlikely to have fought on the frontlines in all campaigns since this would greatly have jeopardized the empire, but it is clear that he was more interested in participating in war than his predecessors and successors and he did eventually die in battle.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon was a highly successful military strategist who employed an extensive spy network, useful for administration and military activities, and employed well-trained scouts for reconnaissance when on campaign. Even though the Assyrian Empire was vastly more powerful than any of its enemies, these enemies also surrounded the empire. Because only one target could be attacked at a time, they had to be picked wisely in order to avoid disaster. Sargon outwitted his enemies on multiple occasions, for instance through the unexpected route he took in the war with Urartu. Sargon's ability to quickly react and adapt to setbacks distinguished him from his predecessors. Sargon also strengthened the Assyrian army; he was the first Assyrian king to appreciate the war potential of cavalry and made various innovations, including picking certain breeds of horses, developing new methods of harnessing and recruiting mercenary cavalry. Based on the contents of his letters, Sargon seems to have ensured discipline and obedience through fear rather than inspiration or adoration. When raising troops, he at times threatened them with the same type of punishments enacted against Assyria's worst enemies, should they disobey him.


title: Sargon II

text: Unlike the numerous records of such punishments against Assyrian enemies, there is no evidence that Sargon's threats were realized—it is unlikely that they ever were. Because the soldiers in many cases had themselves participated in punishments against their enemies, the threats themselves were probably sufficient. Despite this approach, Sargon was not unpopular with the military; there are no records of army uprisings against him, nor of any army officers engaging in conspiracies. It is also probable that the main motivating factor for Assyrians serving in the army was not being threatened by the king, but rather the frequent spoils of war that could be taken after victories.


title: Sargon II

text: Nearly all Assyrian kings wished to outdo their predecessors and be remembered as glorious rulers. Sargon aspired to surpass all previous kings, even Sargon of Akkad. He established and cultivated his own cult of personality, for instance through having stelae made with depictions of him as a formidable king and placing these across the empire, often in highly visible places such as frequented passageways. In his palace in Dur-Sharrukin, Sargon decorated the walls with reliefs depicting himself and his achievements. He hoped that future generations would regard him as one of the greatest kings.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon's aspiration for renown is also reflected in Dur-Sharrukin, which was likely founded mainly as an ideological statement given its location's lack of obvious merit. Perhaps inspired by Sargon of Akkad being credited as the founder of the city of Akkad, Sargon II built Dur-Sharrukin for his own glory and intended the city, and his various other building works, to preserve his memory for generations to come. The inscriptions in Dur-Sharrukin evoke Sargon's desire to initiate a golden age and to mark the beginning of a new world order. They also condemn those who would destroy Sargon's works and encourage future kings to honor his memory.


title: Sargon II

text: In addition to Sargon of Akkad, another figure idolized by Sargon II was the ancient Sumerian ruler Gilgamesh, chiefly known in Sargon's time through the "Epic of Gilgamesh". In several surviving texts, Sargon II's feats were implicitly compared to the legend. In Sargon's inscriptions, the campaign against Urartu includes portions where it seems that Sargon is fighting not only the Urartians but also the landscape itself. A section where the mountains are described as if they are rising up as swords and spears to oppose Sargon's advance would probably have reminded Assyrian readers of a similar section in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", implying that Sargon faced dangers equal to those of the ancient hero. A giant relief at Dur-Sharrukin depicts a muscular man holding a lion to his chest. Though the relief bears no inscription that proves its identity, scholars generally identify it as a depiction of Gilgamesh. In the "Epic of Gilgamesh", Gilgamesh, though failing to gain actual immortality, achieves a type of immortality through his creation of an impressive wall surrounding Uruk, a building work that will outlast him and perpetuate his memory.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon titled himself a "guardian of justice" and considered himself to be divinely mandated to "maintain justice and right", "give guidance to those who are not strong" and "not to injure the weak". Sargon worked to ensure the protection and security of the people who lived under his rule.


title: Sargon II

text: Under Tiglath-Pileser, Assyrian efforts to assimilate and incorporate conquered foreign peoples had begun in earnest. Sargon continued and extended this policy, putting foreigners on the same footing as the original Assyrian population. Sargon's accounts of conquests explicitly mention that he placed the same taxes on the people of the new territories as he did on the people in the Assyrian heartland. Sargon also encouraged assimilation, cultural mixture and the teaching, rather than forceful imposition, of Assyrian ways of life. One of the passages in an account of Dur-Sharrukin's construction for instance reads:


title: Sargon II

text: The power and influence of the women at the royal court was increased in Sargon's reign. He created new military units subservient to the queen, which grew in size and diversity under Sargon's successors. These units were part of the military might of the empire and participated in campaigns. Sargon's motivation is not known, but perhaps he wanted to reduce the influence of powerful officials by delegating authority and responsibilities to trusted relatives, including women. The office of "turtanu" was split into two, one being assigned to the forces of the queen.


title: Sargon II

text: In Assyrian royal ideology, the Assyrian king was the divinely appointed mortal representative of Ashur. The king was seen as having the moral, humane and necessary obligation to extend Assyria since lands outside Assyria were regarded to be uncivilized and a threat to the cosmic and divine order within the Assyrian Empire. Expansionism was thus cast as a moral duty to convert chaos to civilization. Resistance against Assyrian rule was seen as fighting against divine will; rebels and enemies were criminals against the divine world order, deserving punishment. Though some atrocities are recorded in Sargon's inscriptions, including "filling the mountain valleys" with the bodies of enemy soldiers and gouging out the eyes of prisoners, Sargon's inscriptions do not appear to contain much overt sadism (unlike the inscriptions of some other kings, such as Ashurnasirpal II). Atrocities enacted by Assyrian kings were in most known cases directed only towards soldiers and elites; as of 2016 none of the known inscriptions or reliefs of Sargon mention or show harm being done to civilians. Unlike virtually all other Assyrian kings, Sargon did not solely exert dominion through aggression, but maintained good relations with several foreign ruling classes and external kings, rewarded loyal vassals, worked to seal alliances, and several times spared and forgave repentant enemies.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon saw himself as exceptionally intelligent, more so than any of his predecessors. It is probable that he received the usual education of the Assyrian upper class, learning both Akkadian and Sumerian, as well as some arithmetic. Sargon was perhaps also educated in art or literature; he built a library in his palace and covered the palace walls in artwork. Sargon heavily promoted writing and scribal culture; court scholars became more prominent in Sargon's reign than both before and after. Over a thousand cuneiform letters are known from Sargon's time, more than from the reigns of his three successors combined.


title: Sargon II

text: Sargon's legacy in ancient Assyria was severely damaged by the manner of his death; in particular, the failure to recover his body was a major psychological blow for Assyria. The shock and theological implications plagued the reigns of his successors for decades. The ancient Assyrians believed that unburied dead became ghosts that could come back and haunt the living. Sargon was believed to be doomed to a miserable afterlife; his ghost would wander the Earth, eternally restless and hungry. Soon after the news of Sargon's death reached the Assyrian heartland, the influential advisor and scribe Nabu-zuqup-kena copied Tablet XII of the "Epic of Gilgamesh". This tablet contains a section eerily similar to Sargon's death, with the miserable implications described in detail, which must have left the scribe stunned and distressed. In the Levant, Sargon's hubris was mocked. It is believed that a foreign ruler chided in the Biblical Book of Isaiah is based on Sargon.


title: Sargon II

text: Sennacherib was horrified by his father's death. The Assyriologist Eckart Frahm believes that Sennacherib was so deeply affected that he began suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Sennacherib was unable to acknowledge and mentally deal with what had transpired. Sargon's dishonorable death in battle and his lack of a burial was seen as a sign that he must have committed some serious and unforgivable sin that made the gods completely abandon him. Sennacherib concluded that Sargon had perhaps offended Babylon's gods by taking control of the city.


title: Sargon II

text: Sennacherib did everything he could to distance himself from Sargon and never wrote or built anything to honor Sargon's memory. One of his first building projects was restoring a temple dedicated to Nergal, god of the underworld, perhaps intended to pacify a deity possibly involved with Sargon's fate. Sennacherib also moved the capital to Nineveh, despite the fact that Dur-Sharrukin was entirely new and built to house the royal court. Given that Sargon modelled parts of his reign on Gilgamesh, Frahm believes that it is possible that Sennacherib abandoned Dur-Sharrukin on account of the "Epic of Gilgamesh". The furious and hungry spirit of a mighty king might have been feared to mean that Sennacherib would be unable to hold court there. Sennacherib spent a lot of time and effort to rid the empire of Sargon's imagery and work. Images Sargon had created at the temple in Assur were made invisible through raising the level of the courtyard and Sargon's queen Atalia was buried hastily when she died, without regard to traditional burial practices and in the same coffin as another woman. Despite this, Sennacherib attempted to avenge his father, sending an expedition to Tabal in 704 to kill Gurdî and perhaps retrieve Sargon's body; whether it was successful is not known.


title: Sargon II

text: After Sennacherib's reign, Sargon was sometimes mentioned as the ancestor of later kings. Assyria fell in the late 7th century BC. Though the local population of northern Mesopotamia never forgot ancient Assyria, knowledge of Assyria in Western Europe throughout the centuries thereafter derived from the writings of classical authors and the Bible. Due to the efforts of Sennacherib, Sargon was poorly remembered by the time these works were written. Sargon was obscure in Assyriology prior to the rediscovery of Dur-Sharrukin in the 19th century. His name appears once in the Bible (Isaiah 20.1) and he is not mentioned in classical sources. Assyriologists were puzzled by the name's appearance in the Bible and tended to identify it as a second name of one of the better-known kings, typically Shalmaneser, Sennacherib or Esarhaddon.


title: Sargon II

text: European explorers and archaeologists first began excavations in northern Mesopotamia in the early 19th century. Around this time some scholars began to place Sargon as a distinct king between Shalmaneser and Sennacherib. Dur-Sharrukin was found by chance; Paul-Émile Botta was conducting excavations at Nineveh when he heard about it from locals in 1843. Under Botta and his assistant Victor Place, virtually the entire palace was excavated, as were portions of the surrounding town. In 1847, the first-ever exhibition on Assyrian sculptures was held in the Louvre, composed of finds from Sargon's palace. Botta's report on his findings, published in 1849, garnered exceptional interest. Though much of what was excavated at Dur-Sharrukin was left in situ, reliefs and other artifacts have been exhibited across the world, including the Louvre, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and the Iraq Museum.


title: Sargon II

text: In 1845, Isidore Löwenstern was the first to suggest that Sargon was the builder of Dur-Sharrukin, although he based this identification on erroneous readings of cuneiform. After cuneiform was deciphered, archaeologist Adrien Prévost de Longpérier confirmed the king's name to be Sargon in 1847. Discussions and debate continued for several years and Sargon was not fully accepted by Assyriologists as a distinct king until the 1860s. Through the large number of sources left behind from his time, Sargon is better known than many of his predecessors and successors, and than the ancient Sargon of Akkad. Modern Assyriologists consider Sargon to have been one of the most important Assyrian kings given the substantial expansion of Assyrian territory undertaken in his reign and his political and military reforms. Sargon left a stable and strong empire, though it proved difficult to control by his successors. Sennacherib had to face several revolts against his rule, some of them motivated by the manner of Sargon's death, though they were all eventually defeated. Elayi assessed Sargon in 2017 as "the real founder of the empire" and a man who "succeeded in everything in his life, but completely failed in his death". Since the early 20th century, Sargon has also been a common name among modern Assyrian people.


title: Sargon II

text: In an account of restoration work done to Ashurnasirpal II's palace in Nimrud (written before Sargon's reconquest of Babylonia), Sargon used the following longer titulature:


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The Faraway Tree is a series of popular novels for children by British author Enid Blyton. The titles in the series are "The Enchanted Wood" (1939), "The Magic Faraway Tree" (1943), "The Folk of the Faraway Tree" (1946) and "Up the Faraway Tree" (1951).


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The stories take place in an enchanted wood in which a gigantic magical tree grows – the eponymous 'Faraway Tree'. The tree is so tall that its topmost branches reach into the clouds and it is wide enough to contain small houses carved into its trunk. The wood and the tree are discovered by three children who move into a house nearby. They befriend many of the residents and have adventures in magical lands that visit the top of the tree.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The first title of the main trilogy, "The Enchanted Wood", was published in 1939, although the Faraway Tree and Moon-Face had already made a brief appearance in 1936 in "The Yellow Fairy Book". A picture-strip book, "Up the Faraway Tree", was published in 1951. Over the years, the Faraway Tree stories have been illustrated by various artists including Dorothy M. Wheeler (first editions), Rene Cloke, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, and Georgina Hargreaves.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: In the first novel in the series, Jo, Bessie and Fanny (edited to Joe, Beth and Frannie in revised editions) move to live near a large forest, which the locals call "The Enchanted Wood". One day they go for a walk in the wood and discover it really is enchanted. They encounter a group of elves who have been robbed of important papers by a gnome. They chase the gnome and recover the papers, but the gnome himself escapes up a huge tree whose branches seem to reach into the clouds. This is the Faraway Tree.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: Against the elves' advice, the children climb the Faraway Tree. They discover that it is inhabited by magical people, including Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mr. Watzisname and the Angry Pixie, whose houses are carved into the trunk. They befriend some of these people, in particular Moon-Face and Silky. At the very top of the tree they discover a ladder which leads them to a magical land which is different on each visit, because each place moves on from the top of the tree to make way for a new land. The children are free to come and go, but they must leave before the land moves on, or they will be stuck there until that same land returns to the Faraway Tree. In various chapters, one of the children gets stuck in the land.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The lands at the top are sometimes extremely unpleasant – for example, the Land of Dame Slap (altered to Dame Snap in revised editions), an aggressive school teacher; and sometimes fantastically enjoyable - notably the Land of Birthdays, the Land of Goodies, the Land of Take-What-You-Want and the Land of Do-As-You-Please.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The first land the three children visit is the Roundabout Land, where they give some cake to two rabbits, and the rabbits dig a hole for themselves and the three children. After several more adventures, the people of the Faraway Tree need the children's help when they are invaded by an army of Red Goblins. The last land they visit in this book is the Land of Birthdays, where the brownies and the inhabitants of the Faraway Tree celebrate Bessie's birthday.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: Dick (later Rick), the cousin of Jo, Bessie and Fanny, comes to stay and he joins the secret adventures in the lands of the Faraway Tree. Dick is not interested at first, but later on he becomes interested and gets into mischief. Together they venture into many new lands and have a lot of fun. For example, in the Land of Goodies, some houses are made of chocolate.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: Connie, a spoilt and stuck-up girl, comes to stay for the summer with the three children while her mother is sick. At first, Connie refuses to believe in the Faraway Tree or the magical folk who live in it, even when the Angry Pixie throws ink at her and when Dame Washalot soaks her. When the children visit the lands at the top of the tree, Connie gets a few surprises. The Saucepan Man's mother decides to live in the tree, leaving her job as a baker in Dame Slap's land. She sets up a surprising cake shop in the tree.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: Unlike the first three books in the series, this work is not a novel, but a series of illustrations with short text underneath. The plot follows two new children, Robin and Joy, who have read "The Enchanted Wood" and want to join in the adventures. They go to the wood to meet Jo, Bessie and Fanny and meet some of the wood's residents, including Silky and Moon Face.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The main characters are Jo, Bessie and Fanny (updated in recent revisions to Joe, Beth and Frannie), who are three siblings. Fanny is the youngest, Bessie is next in age and Jo is their big brother. They live near the Enchanted Wood and are friends of the residents of the Faraway Tree. Other characters include:


title: The Faraway Tree

text: In modern reprints, the names of some of the characters have been changed. Jo has been changed to Joe, the more common spelling for males, and Bessie is now Beth, the former name having fallen out of usage as a nickname for Elizabeth. Fanny and Dick have been renamed Frannie and Rick because in the United Kingdom and some countries in the Commonwealth of Nations they are now more widely used as slang terms for genitalia.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The supporting character Dame Slap has also become Dame Snap, and no longer practises corporal punishment but instead reprimands her students by shouting at them.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: Entire passages of the original have been rewritten to remove references to fighting. For instance, when the tree is taken over by Goblins in "The Enchanted Wood", the Goblins were originally fought off, with descriptions of Mr. Watzisname 'pummelling them as if he were beating carpets' and the Saucepan Man throwing his saucepans at them. These have been replaced with cursory references to 'chasing'. Some of the changes were criticised in a review by Alison Flood.


title: The Faraway Tree

text: In October 2014, it was announced that the books will be adapted for the cinema for the first time and are being developed for a live action film version by Sam Mendes' production company, Neal Street Productions. , the film was still listed as being "in development."


title: The Faraway Tree

text: In 1997, stories from the novels were adapted into animated ten-minute episodes for the TV series "Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands". The series, entitled "Enchanted Lands: The Magic of the Faraway Tree" had 13 episodes:


title: The Faraway Tree

text: The voice cast were Roy Hudd, Richard Pearce, Kate Harbour, John Baddeley, Jimmy Hibbert, Janet James and David Holt.


title: Morisco

text: Moriscos (, ; ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open practice of Islam by its sizeable Muslim population (termed "mudéjar") in the early 16th century.


title: Morisco

text: The Unified Portuguese and Spanish monarchs mistrusted Moriscos and feared that they would prompt new invasions from the Ottoman Empire after the Fall of Constantinople. So between 1609 and 1614 they began to expel them systematically from the various kingdoms of the united realm. The most severe expulsions occurred in the eastern Kingdom of Valencia. The exact number of Moriscos present in Spain prior to expulsion is unknown and can only be guessed on the basis of official records of the edict of expulsion. Furthermore, the overall success of the expulsion is subject to academic debate, with estimates on the proportion of those who avoided expulsion or returned to Spain ranging from 5% to 40%. The large majority of those permanently expelled settled on the western fringe of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Morocco. The last mass prosecution against Moriscos for crypto-Islamic practices occurred in Granada in 1727, with most of those convicted receiving relatively light sentences.


title: Morisco

text: In Spanish, "morisco" was also used in official colonial-era documentation in Spanish America to denote mixed-race "castas": the children of relations between Spanish men and women of mixed African-European ancestry.


title: Morisco

text: The label "morisco" for Muslims who converted to Christianity began to appear in texts in the first half of the sixteenth century, though use of the term at this time was limited. Usage became widespread in Christian sources during the second half of the century, but it was unclear whether Moriscos adopted the term. In their texts, it was more common for them to speak of themselves simply as "muslimes" (Muslims); in later periods, they may have begun to accept the label. In modern times, the label is in widespread use in Spanish literature and adopted by other languages, including Modern Standard Arabic (in which it appears as "al-Mūrīskiyyūn / al-Mōrīskiyyūn" ()).


title: Morisco

text: The word "morisco" appears in twelfth-century Castilian texts as an adjective for the noun "moro". These two words are comparable to the English adjective "Moorish" and noun "Moor". Mediaeval Castilians used the words in the general senses of "Muslim" or an "Arabic-speaker" as in the case of Muslim converts; the words continued to be used in these older meanings even after the more specific meaning of "morisco" (which does not have a corresponding noun) became widespread.


title: Morisco

text: According to L. P. Harvey, the two different meanings of the word "morisco" have resulted in mistakes when modern scholars misread historical text containing "morisco" in the older meaning, as having the newer meaning. In the early years after the forced conversions, the Christians used the terms "new Christians", "new converts", or the longer "new Christians, converted from Moors" ("nuevos christianos convertidos de moros"; to distinguish from those converted from Judaism) to refer to this group.


title: Morisco

text: In 1517, the word "morisco" became a "category" added to the array of cultural and religious identities that existed at the time, used to identify Muslim converts to Christianity in Granada and Castille. The term was a pejorative adaptation of the adjective "morisco" ("Moorish"). It soon became the standard term to refer to all former Muslims in Spain.


title: Morisco

text: In Spanish America, "morisco" (or "morisca", in feminine form) was used to identify a racial category: a mixed-race "casta", the child of a Spaniard ("español") and a mulatto (offspring of a Spaniard and a "negro", generally a lighter-complected person with some African ancestry). The term appears in colonial-era marriage registers identifying individuals and in eighteenth-century "casta" paintings.


title: Morisco

text: There is no universally agreed figure of Morisco population. Estimates vary because of the lack of precise census. In addition, the Moriscos avoided registration and authorities in order to appear as members of the majority Spanish population. Furthermore, the populations would have fluctuated, due to such factors as birth rates, conquests, conversions, relocations, and emigration.


title: Morisco

text: Historians generally agree that, based on expulsion records, around 275,000 Moriscos were expelled from Spain in the early 17th century. Historian L. P. Harvey in 2005 gave a range of 300,000 to 330,000 for the early 16th century; based on earlier estimates by Domínguez Ortiz and Bernard Vincent, who gave 321,000 for the period 1568–75, and 319,000 just before the expulsion in 1609. But, Christiane Stallaert put the number at around one million Moriscos at the beginning of the 16th century. Recent studies by Trevor Dadson on the expulsion of the Moriscos propose the figure of 500,000 just before the expulsion, consistent with figures given by other historians. Dadson concludes that, assuming the 275,000 figure from the official expulsion records is correct, around 40% of Spain's Moriscos managed to avoid expulsions altogether. A further 20% managed to return to Spain in the years following their expulsion.


title: Morisco

text: The Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, which surrendered in 1492 to the Catholic forces after a decade-long campaign. Granada was annexed to Castile as the Kingdom of Granada, and had a majority Muslim population of between 250,000 and 300,000. Initially, the Treaty of Granada guaranteed their rights to be Muslim but Cardinal Cisneros's effort to convert the population led to a series of rebellions. The rebellions were suppressed, and afterwards the Muslims in Granada were given the choice to remain and accept baptism, reject baptism and be enslaved or killed, or to be exiled. The option of exile was often not feasible in practice, and hindered by the authorities. Shortly after the rebellions' defeat, the entire Muslim population of Granada had nominally become Christian.


title: Morisco

text: Although they converted to Christianity, they maintained their existing customs, including their language, distinct names, food, dress and even some ceremonies. Many secretly practiced Islam, even as they publicly professed and practiced Christianity. This led the Catholic rulers to adopt increasingly intolerant and harsh policies to eradicate these characteristics. This culminated in Philip II's "Pragmatica" of 1 January 1567 which ordered the Moriscos to abandon their customs, clothing and language. The "pragmatica" triggered the Morisco revolts in 1568–71. The Spanish authorities quashed this rebellion, and at the end of the fighting, the authorities decided to expel the Moriscos from Granada and scatter them to the other parts of Castile. Between 80,000 and 90,000 Granadans were marched to cities and towns across Castile.


title: Morisco

text: In 1492, the Eastern Kingdom of Valencia, part of the Crown of Aragon had the second largest Muslim population in Spain after Granada, which became nominally the largest after the forced conversions in Granada in 1502. The nobles of Valencia continued to allow Islam to be practiced until the 1520s, and, to some extent, the Islamic legal system to be preserved.


title: Morisco

text: In the 1520s, the Revolt of the Brotherhoods broke out among the Christian subjects of Valencia. The rebellion bore an anti-Islam sentiment, and the rebels forced Valencian Muslims to become Christians in the territories they controlled. The Muslims joined the Crown in suppressing the rebellion, playing crucial roles in several battles. After the rebellion was suppressed, King Charles V started an investigation to determine the validity of the conversions forced by the rebels. He ultimately upheld those conversions, therefore putting the force-converted subjects under the authority of the Inquisition, and issued declarations to the effect of forcing the conversion of the rest of the Muslims.


title: Morisco

text: After the forced conversions, Valencia was the region where the remains of Islamic culture was the strongest. A Venetian ambassador in the 1570s said that some Valencian nobles "had permitted their Moriscos to live almost openly as Mohammedans." Despite efforts to ban Arabic, it continued to be spoken until the expulsions. Valencians also trained other Aragonese Moriscos in Arabic and religious texts.


title: Morisco

text: Moriscos accounted for 20% of the population of Aragon, residing principally on the banks of the Ebro river and its tributaries. Unlike Granada and Valencia Moriscos, they did not speak Arabic but, as vassals of the nobility, were granted the privilege to practice their faith relatively openly.


title: Morisco

text: Places like Muel, Zaragoza, were inhabited fully by Moriscos, the only Old Christians were the priest, the notary and the owner of the tavern-inn. "The rest would rather go on a pilgrimage to Mecca than Santiago de Compostela."


title: Morisco

text: In Catalonia, Moriscos represented less than 2% of the population and were concentrated in the Low Ebro region, as well as in the city of Lleida and the towns of Aitona and Seròs, in the Low Segre region. They largely spoke Arabic no longer, but Catalan, and to a lesser extent also Castilian-Aragonese in Lleida.


title: Morisco

text: The Kingdom of Castile included also Extremadura and much of modern-day Andalusia (particularly the Guadalquivir Valley). The proportion of its population in most of its territory was more dispersed except in specific locations such as Villarrubia de los Ojos, Hornachos, Arévalo or the "Señorío de las Cinco Villas" (in the southwestern part of the province of Albacete), where they were the majority or even the totality of the population. Castile's Moriscos were highly integrated and practically indistinguishable from the Catholic population: they did not speak Arabic and a large number of them were genuine Christians. The mass arrival of the much more visible Morisco population deported from Granada to the lands under the Kingdom of Castile led to a radical change in the situation of Castilian Moriscos, despite their efforts to distinguish themselves from the Granadans. For example, marriages between Castilian Moriscos and "old" Christians were much more common than between Castilian and Granadan Moriscos. The town of Hornachos was an exception, not only because practically all of its inhabitants were Moriscos but because of their open practice of the Islamic faith and of their famed independent and indomitable nature. For this reason, the order of expulsion in Castile targeted specifically the ""Hornacheros"", the first Castilian Moriscos to be expelled. The Hornacheros were exceptionally allowed to leave fully armed and were marched as an undefeated army to Seville from where they were transported to Morocco. They maintained their combative nature overseas, founding the Corsary Republic of Bou Regreg and Salé in modern-day Morocco.


title: Morisco

text: The situation of the Moriscos in the Canary Islands was different from on continental Europe. They were not the descendants of Iberian Muslims but were Muslim Moors taken from Northern Africa in Christian raids ("cabalgadas") or prisoners taken during the attacks of the Barbary Pirates against the islands. In the Canary Islands, they were held as slaves or freed, gradually converting to Christianity, with some serving as guides in raids against their former homelands. When the king forbade further raids, the Moriscos lost contact with Islam. They became a substantial part of the population of the islands, reaching one-half of the inhabitants of Lanzarote. Protesting their Christianity, they managed to avoid the expulsion that affected European Moriscos. Still subjected to the ethnic discrimination of the "pureza de sangre", they could not migrate to the Americas or join many organizations. Later petitions allowed for their emancipation with the rest of the Canarian population.


title: Morisco

text: While the Moors chose to leave Spain and emigrate to North Africa, the Moriscos accepted Christianity and gained certain cultural and legal privileges for doing so.


title: Morisco

text: Many Moriscos became devout in their new Christian faith, and in Granada, some Moriscos were killed by Muslims for refusing to renounce Christianity. In 16th century Granada, the Christian Moriscos chose the Virgin Mary as their patroness saint and developed Christian devotional literature with a Marian emphasis.


title: Morisco

text: Because conversions to Christianity were decreed by law rather than by their own will, most Moriscos still genuinely believed in Islam. Because of the danger associated with practicing Islam, however, the religion was largely practiced clandestinely. A legal opinion, called "the Oran fatwa" by modern scholars, circulated in Spain and provided religious justification for outwardly conforming to Christianity while maintaining an internal conviction of faith in Islam, when necessary for survival. The fatwa affirmed the regular obligations of a Muslim, including the ritual prayer ("salat") and the ritual alms ("zakat"), although the obligation might be fulfilled in a relaxed manner (e.g., the fatwa mentioned making the ritual prayer "even though by making some slight movement" and the ritual alms by "showing generosity to a beggar"). The fatwa also allowed Muslims to perform acts normally forbidden in Islamic law, such as consuming pork and wine, calling Jesus the son of God, and blaspheming against the prophet Muhammad, as long as they maintained conviction against such acts.


title: Morisco

text: The writing of a Morisco crypto-Muslim author known as the "Young Man of Arévalo" included accounts of his travel around Spain, his meetings with other clandestine Muslims and descriptions of their religious practices and discussions. The writing referred to the practice of secret congregational ritual prayer, ("salat jama'ah") collecting alms in order to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca (although it is unclear whether the journey was ultimately achieved), and the determination and hope to reinstitute the full practice of Islam as soon as possible. The Young Man wrote at least three extant works, "Brief compendium of our sacred law and sunna", the "Tafsira" and "Sumario de la relación y ejercio espiritual", all written in Spanish with Arabic script ("aljamiado"), and primarily about religious topics.


title: Morisco

text: Extant copies of the Qur'an were also found from the Morisco period, although many are not complete copies but selections of "suras", which were easier to hide. Other surviving Islamic religious materials from this period include collections of "hadiths", stories of the prophets, Islamic legal texts, theological works (including Al-Ghazali's works), as well as polemical literature defending Islam and criticizing Christianity.


title: Morisco

text: The Moriscos also likely wrote the Lead Books of Sacromonte, texts written in Arabic claiming to be Christian sacred books from the first century AD. Upon their discovery in the mid-1590s, the books were initially greeted enthusiastically by the Christians of Granada and treated by the Christian authorities as genuine and caused a sensation throughout Europe due to their (ostensibly) ancient origin. Hispano-Arabic historian Leonard Patrick Harvey proposed that the Moriscos wrote these texts in order to infiltrate Christianity from within, by emphasizing aspects of Christianity which were acceptable to Muslims. The content of the text was superficially Christian and did not refer to Islam at all, but contained many "Islamizing" features. The text never featured the Trinity doctrine or referred to Jesus as Son of God, concepts which are blasphemous and offensive in Islam. Instead, it repeatedly stated "There is no god but God and Jesus is the Spirit of God ("ruh Allah")", which is unambiguously close to the Islamic shahada and referred to the Qur'anic epithet for Jesus, "the Spirit of God". It contained passages which appeared (unbeknownst to the Christians at the time) to implicitly predict the arrival of Muhammad by mentioning his various Islamic epithets.


title: Morisco

text: In many ways, the above situation was comparable to that of the Marranos, secret Jews who lived in Spain at the same time.


title: Morisco

text: Islam has been present in Spain since the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the eighth century. At the beginning of the twelfth century, the Muslim population in the Iberian Peninsula — called "Al-Andalus" by the Muslims — was estimated to number as high as 5.5 million, among whom were Arabs, Berbers and indigenous converts. In the next few centuries, as the Christians pushed from the north in a process called "reconquista", the Muslim population declined. At the end of the fifteenth century, the "reconquista" culminated in the fall of Granada and the total number of Muslims in Spain was estimated to be between 500,000 and 600,000 out of the total Spanish population of 7 to 8 million. Approximately half of the remaining Muslims lived in the former Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain, which had been annexed to the Crown of Castile. About 20,000 Muslims lived in other territories of Castile, and most of the remainder lived in the territories of the Crown of Aragon. Prior to this in Castile 200,000 of the 500,000 Muslims had been forcibly converted; 200,000 had left and 100,000 had died or been enslaved.


title: Morisco

text: The Christians called the defeated Muslims who came in their rule the "Mudéjars". Prior to the completion of the "Reconquista", they were generally given freedom of religion as terms of their surrender. For example, the Treaty of Granada, which governed the surrender of the emirate, guaranteed a set of rights to the conquered Muslims, including religious tolerance and fair treatment, in return for their capitulation.


title: Morisco

text: When Christian conversion efforts on the part of Granada's first archbishop, Hernando de Talavera, were less than successful, Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros took stronger measures: with forced conversions, burning Islamic texts, and prosecuting many of Granada's Muslims. In response to these and other violations of the Treaty, Granada's Muslim population rebelled in 1499. The revolt lasted until early 1501, giving the Castilian authorities an excuse to void the terms of the Treaty for Muslims. In 1501 the terms of the Treaty of Granada protections were abandoned.


title: Morisco

text: In 1501 Castilian authorities delivered an ultimatum to Granada's Muslims: they could either convert to Christianity or be expelled. Most did convert, in order not to have their property and small children taken away from them. Many continued to dress in their traditional fashion, speak Arabic, and secretly practiced Islam (crypto-Muslims). The 1504 Oran fatwa provided scholarly religious dispensations and instructions about secretly practicing Islam while outwardly practicing Christianity. With the decline of Arabic culture, many used the "aljamiado" writing system, i.e., Castilian or Aragonese texts in Arabic writing with scattered Arabic expressions. In 1502, Queen Isabella I of Castile formally rescinded toleration of Islam for the entire Kingdom of Castile. In 1508, Castilian authorities banned traditional Granadan clothing. With the 1512 Spanish invasion of Navarre, the Muslims of Navarre were ordered to convert or leave by 1515.


title: Morisco

text: However, King Ferdinand, as ruler of the Kingdom of Aragon, continued to tolerate the large Muslim population living in his territory. Since the crown of Aragon was juridically independent of Castile, their policies towards Muslims could and did differ during this period. Historians have suggested that the Crown of Aragon was inclined to tolerate Islam in its realm because the landed nobility there depended on the cheap, plentiful labor of Muslim vassals. However, the landed elite's exploitation of Aragon's Muslims also exacerbated class resentments. In the 1520s, when Valencian guilds rebelled against the local nobility in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods, the rebels "saw that the simplest way to destroy the power of the nobles in the countryside would be to free their vassals, and this they did by baptizing them." The Inquisition and monarchy decided to prohibit the forcibly baptized Muslims of Valencia from returning to Islam. Finally, in 1526, King Charles V issued a decree compelling all Muslims in the crown of Aragon to convert to Catholicism or leave the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal had already expelled or forcibly converted its Muslims in 1497 and would establish its own Inquisition in 1536).


title: Morisco

text: In Granada for the first decades after the conversion, the former Muslim elites of the former Emirate became the middlemen between the crown and the Morisco population. Certain religious tolerance, too, was still observable during the first half of the 16th century. They became "alguaciles", "hidalgos", courtiers, advisors to the royal court and translators of Arabic. They helped collect taxes (taxes from Granada made up one-fifth of Castile's income) and became the advocates and defenders of the Moriscos within royal circles. Some of them became genuine Christians while others secretly continued to be Muslims. The Islamic faith and tradition were more persistent among the Granadan lower class, both in the city and in the countryside. The city of Granada was divided into Morisco and Old Christian quarters, and the countryside often have alternating zones that are dominated by Old or New Christians. Royal and Church authorities tended to ignore the secret but persistent Islamic practice and tradition among some of the Morisco population.


title: Morisco

text: Outside Granada, the role of advocates and defenders were taken by the Morisco's Christian lords. In areas with high Morisco concentration, such as the Kingdom of Valencia and certain areas of other kingdoms, former Muslims played an important role in the economy, especially in agriculture and craft. Consequently, the Christian lords often defended their Moriscos, sometimes to the point of being targeted by the Inquisition. For example, the Inquisition sentenced Sancho de Cardona, the Admiral of Aragon to life imprisonment after he was accused of allowing the Moriscos to openly practice Islam, build a mosque and openly made the "adhan" (call to prayer). The Duke of Segorbe (later Viceroy of Valencia) allowed his vassal in the Vall d'Uixó to operate a "madrassa". A witness recalled one of his vassals saying that "we live as Moors and no one dares to say anything to us". A Venetian ambassador in the 1570s said that some Valencian nobles "had permitted their Moriscos to live almost openly as Mohammedans."


title: Morisco

text: In 1567, Philip II directed Moriscos to give up their Arabic names and traditional dress, and prohibited the use of the Arabic language. In addition, the children of Moriscos were to be educated by Catholic priests. In reaction, there was a Morisco uprising in the Alpujarras from 1568 to 1571.


title: Morisco

text: At the instigation of the Duke of Lerma and the Viceroy of Valencia, Archbishop Juan de Ribera, Philip III expelled the Moriscos from Spain between 1609 (Aragon) and 1614 (Castile). They were ordered to depart "under the pain of death and confiscation, without trial or sentence... to take with them no money, bullion, jewels or bills of exchange... just what they could carry." Estimates for the number expelled have varied, although contemporary accounts set the number at between 270,000 and 300,000 (about 4% of the Spanish population).


title: Morisco

text: The majority were expelled from the Crown of Aragon (modern day Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia), particularly from Valencia, where Morisco communities remained large, visible and cohesive; and Christian animosity was acute, particularly for economic reasons. Some historians have blamed the subsequent economic collapse of the Spanish Eastern Mediterranean coast on the region's inability to replace Morisco workers successfully with Christian newcomers. Many villages were totally abandoned as a result. New laborers were fewer in number and were not as familiar with local agricultural techniques.


title: Morisco

text: In the Kingdom of Castille (including Andalusia, Murcia and the former kingdom of Granada), by contrast, the scale of Morisco expulsion was much less severe. This was due to the fact that their presence was less felt as they were considerably more integrated in their communities, enjoying the support and sympathy from local Christian populations, authorities and, in some occasions, the clergy. Furthermore, the internal dispersion of the more distinct Morisco communities of Granada throughout Castile and Andalusia after the War of the Alpujarras, made this community of Moriscos harder to track and identify, allowing them to merge with and disappear into the wider society.


title: Morisco

text: Although many Moriscos were sincere Christians, adult Moriscos were often assumed to be covert Muslims (i.e. crypto-Muslims), but expelling their children presented the government with a dilemma. As the children had all been baptized, the government could not legally or morally transport them to Muslim lands. Some authorities proposed that children should be forcibly separated from their parents, but sheer numbers showed this to be impractical. Consequently, the official destination of the expellees was generally stated to be France (more specifically Marseille). After the assassination of Henry IV in 1610, about 150,000 Moriscos were sent there. Many of the Moriscos migrated from Marseille to other lands in Christendom, including Italy and Sicily, or Constantinople. Estimates of returnees vary, with historian Earl Hamilton believing that as many as a quarter of those expelled may have returned to Spain.


title: Morisco

text: The overwhelming majority of the refugees settled in Muslim-held lands, mostly in the Ottoman Empire (Algeria, Tunisia) or Morocco.


title: Morisco

text: French Huguenots were in contact with the Moriscos in plans against the House of Austria (Habsburgs), which ruled Spain in the 1570s. Around 1575, plans were made for a combined attack of Aragonese Moriscos and Huguenots from Béarn under Henri de Navarre against Spanish Aragon, in agreement with the king of Algiers and the Ottoman Empire, but these projects floundered with the arrival of John of Austria in Aragon and the disarmament of the Moriscos. In 1576, the Ottomans planned to send a three-pronged fleet from Istanbul, to disembark between Murcia and Valencia; the French Huguenots would invade from the north and the Moriscos accomplish their uprising, but the Ottoman fleet failed to arrive.