Editing Sargon II (section)

=== Sargon rediscovered ===
{{Main|Rediscovery of Sargon II}}
[[File:Le Tour du monde-04-p077.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1861 illustration by [[Eugène Flandin]] of excavations of the ruins of Dur-Sharrukin|left|alt=Illustration of Dur-Sharrukin's excavation]]
European explorers and archaeologists first began excavations in northern Mesopotamia in the early 19th century.{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=7}} Around this time some scholars placed Sargon as a distinct king between Shalmaneser and Sennacherib.{{Sfn|Holloway|2003|pp=70–71}} Dur-Sharrukin was found by chance; [[Paul-Émile Botta]] was conducting excavations at Nineveh when he heard about it from locals{{Sfn|Trolle Larsen|2017|p=|pp=584–585}} in 1843. Under Botta and his assistant [[Victor Place]], virtually the entire palace was excavated, as were portions of the surrounding town.{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=7}} 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.{{Sfn|Trolle Larsen|2017|p=|pp=584–585}} 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]].{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=7}}

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.{{Sfn|Holloway|2003|pp=70–71}} 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.{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=4}} 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.{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=|pp=246–247}} 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".{{Sfn|Elayi|2017|p=255}} Since the early 20th century, Sargon has also been a common name among modern [[Assyrian people]].{{Sfn|Akopian|2017|p=397}}