Title of the highest-ranking Assyrian official, second in command only to the king. The tartan was the commander in chief of the Assyrian army. The position is mentioned in two Old Testament passages:
King Sargon II of Assyria (722–705 BC) ordered his commander to subdue and capture the Philistine city of Ashdod (Isaiah 20:1).
In 2 Kings 8:17 the tartan was one of three officials whom King Sennacherib of Assyria (705–681 BC) posted over the Assyrian army sent from Lachish to Jerusalem to confront King Hezekiah of Judah (715–687 BC).