What do Sargon II, Nebuchadnezzar II and Cyrus the Great have in common? They all ruled ancient kingdoms (Assyria, Babylonia and Persia, respectively), appear in the Hebrew Bible, and—for our purposes—figure in popular culture as reflected in newspapers throughout the world. Alas, none of them receives the “royal treatment” they were used to in their day. But, all and all, given the fact that they died more than 2,500 years ago, they’re not doing so badly. Since Sargon, king of Assyria, is the oldest, we’ll look at his press references first. Well-enough known to be the namesake of some […]
