Fall of Samaria

724–722 BC Northern Kingdom Status: ended Casualties: 27,290 deported per Sargon's annals; the Ten Tribes lost

After three years of siege Samaria fell. The Assyrians carried Israel away — to Halah, to Habor, to the cities of the Medes — and the Ten Tribes did not return. Foreigners settled in their place became the Samaritans. 2 Kings 17. The end of the Northern Kingdom.

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Belligerents

Shalmaneser V & Sargon II of Assyria
Hoshea, last king of Israel

Casualties

27,290 deported per Sargon's annals; the Ten Tribes lost

Key events

Hoshea conspires with So king of Egypt; tribute withheld
Three-year siege of Samaria
Sargon II claims 27,290 deportees in his annals
Foreign peoples settled in the land become the Samaritans

Aftermath

End of the Northern Kingdom and the start of the legend of the Ten Lost Tribes. The Samaritan schism shadows every Gospel: 'the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.'

Weapons & matériel

Assyrian siege ramps
Three years of blockade

Sources

2 Kings 17
Annals of Sargon II
Hosea, Amos

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.