He punished the city by depriving it of the qualified independence which it had enjoyed hitherto, appointing instead of a native king an Assyrian officer to be its governor, and further carrying off as slaves 27,280 of the inhabitants.

On the remainder, however, he contented himself with re-imposing the rate of tribute to which the town had been liable before its revolt .-- The next year, B.C.
721, he was forced to march in person into Syria in order to meet and quell a dangerous revolt.

Yahu-bid (or Ilu-bid), king of Hamath--a usurper like Sargon himself--had rebelled, and had persuaded the cities of Arpad Zimira, Damascus, and Samaria to cast in their lot with his, and to form a confederacy, by which it was imagined that effectual resistance might be offered to the Assyrian arms.

Not content merely to stand on the defensive in their several towns, the allies took to the field; and a battle was fought at Kar-kar or Garrrar (perhaps one of the many Aroers), where the superiority of the Assyrian troops was once more proved, and Sargon gained a complete victory over his enemies.

Yahu-bid himself was taken and beheaded; and the chiefs of the revolt in the other towns were also put to death.
Having thus crushed the rebellion and re-established tranquillity throughout Syria, Sargon turned his arms towards the extreme south, and attacked Gaza, which was a dependency of Egypt.