Gozan

Gozan was a region located in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) to which Israelite captives from the northern kingdom were deported by the Assyrians. During the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser conquered Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, placing them in various cities, including Halah, Habor, and the cities of the Medes, by the river Gozan (2Ki.17.6; 18:11; 1Ch.5.26). The Assyrian practice of deporting conquered populations was a means of controlling and assimilating them into the Assyrian Empire. The exact location of Gozan is not specified in the Bible, but it is believed to be associated with the Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. The name Gozan is also mentioned in the context of Sennacherib's boasting about the Assyrian conquests, where he claims that the gods of the nations, including those of Gozan, could not deliver their lands from his power (2Ki.19.12; Isaiah 37:12). The deportation of the Israelites to Gozan and other regions marked the end of the northern kingdom of Israel and the beginning of the Assyrian exile.