Why it matters
The event joins Biblical testimony to the documented expansion of the Assyrian Empire.
- Date
- 722–721 BCE
- Historical setting
- Biblical & Classical · Middle East
- People & communities
- Hoshea · Shalmaneser V · Sargon II
722–721 BCE · Middle East · Faith
Fall of Samaria
Assyria captured Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, in 722/721 BCE, deported a large section of its population and incorporated the territory into its imperial system; local population continuity remained.
Atlas dossier · Biblical & ClassicalFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
Illustrated sequence
Silent pan-and-zoom motion derivative of the Fall of Samaria reconstruction; not archival footage.
Enlarge and examine the pictureIMAGE 1
Original Atlas reconstruction
Primary Atlas editorial reconstruction for Fall of Samaria.
World History in Pictures · Public site artwork. This record does not grant third-party republication rights.
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureIMAGE 2
Detail crop — same artwork
Detail crop from the same Fall of Samaria reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →
Enlarge and examine the pictureIMAGE 3
Context crop — same artwork
Context crop from the same Fall of Samaria reconstruction; not an independent historical record.
World History in Pictures · Same editorial artwork package
How Atlas classifies this artwork →Interpretation note
Evidence, memory and historical debate
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
Parallel histories near this moment
800 BCE–900 CE · AmericasMaya city-states and knowledgeMaya societies built complex cities, writing systems, calendars, mathematical traditions and regional trade networks across Mesoamerica.
490–479 BCE · EuropeGreco-Persian WarsCoalitions of Greek poleis resisted two Achaemenid invasions in campaigns remembered at Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea; other Greek communities supported Persia or remained outside the alliances.
1000 BCE–1500 CE · AfricaBantu-speaking migrations and African ironworking networksOver many centuries, Bantu-language dispersals reshaped linguistic landscapes across central, eastern and southern Africa. Communities adopted and developed farming and ironworking in different places and times, through diverse exchanges with peoples already living in these regions.