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] Building projects ¬
 ( Akkadian 



 "legitimate king", reigned 722 ± 705
BC) was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and
became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It
is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal
family. In his inscriptions, he styles himself as a new man, rarely referring to his predecessors;
however he took the name ¬
 ("true king"), after Sargon of Akkad ² who had founded
the first Semitic Empire in the region some 16 centuries earlier.[1] ¬
  is the Biblical form of
the name.

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Sargon preferred Nineveh to the traditional capital at Assur. In 713 BC he ordered the
construction of a new palace and town called Dur-Sharrukin ("House of Sargon"), 20 km north
of Nineveh at the foot of the Gebel Musri. Land was bought, and the debts of construction
workers were nullified in order to attract a sufficient labor force. The land in the environs of the
town was taken under cultivation, and olive groves were planted to increase Assyria's deficient
oil production. The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1760 by 1635 m. The length of
the walls was 16,280 Assyrian units, corresponding to the numerical value of Sargon's name. The
town was partly settled by prisoners of war and deportees under the control of Assyrian officials,
who had to ensure they were paying sufficient respect to the gods and the king. The court moved
to Dur-Sharrukin in 706 BC, although it was not completely finished yet.
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