In 721 B. C., Sargon, king of Assyria, took Samaria, and carried away
the people of Israel as captives beyond the Euphrates. The kingdom of
Israel thus came to an end after a duration of about two hundred and
fifty years.
In 713 B. C., Judah, under King Hezekiah, was attacked by Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, and relieved by the destruction of the Assyrian army. A
time of peace and prosperity followed, but in 677 the Assyrians again
invaded the country, and carried off King Manasseh to Babylon.