The Library of Ashurbanipal - lxg090/Group-1-Wiki-Project- GitHub Wiki
The Library of Ashurbanipal also known as 'The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal', is in Nineveh and is named after King Ashurbanipal who created this library after he established his empire. This library held a lot of different texts and tablets. King Ashurbanipal collected texts from all over, even texts that were before his time like the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' which is the oldest knowns word of literature. This library held scrolls, tablets, scripts, and more. Ashurbanipal not only had literature but he also had medicine, science, mathematics, mythology, and the ancient Assyria's stories. The majority of his texts were copied by scholars from Babylonia that were forced to yield their knowledge. The king wanted the most extravagant library and he has just that. His library inspired Alexander the Great to build the Library of Alexandria. Ashurbanipal wanted his library to be for the future however he never could have imagined that after his passing his enemies would not only burn his empire down but also his library.
Once the king passed, the Assyrian Empire became unstable giving his enemies the chance to strike. According to ancient Babylonia records, Nineveh burned on August 10th, 612 BC. The Babylonians and the Medes teamed together to assault Nineveh and the Assyrians, while the Babylonia's took the Assyrians, the Medes took on Nineveh and burned everything to the ground, including the library. When the library was burning everything inside was being destroyed except the clay tablets, they were 'baking' and turning into a stone like text. Even though the clay tablets had solidified, some of the tablets broke as the library was being buried.
The Library of Ashurbanipal was thought to have been completely lost until an archeologist named Austin Henry Layard discovered the first few tablets in 1850. It would be two more years until he found more tablets and took them to historians to reveal what he had found. However, on the next page is an event that truly sparked worldwide curiosity, known as The burning of The Books in China.
Work Cited
- Kenis, D. (2018, August 7). The future of Open Data, in the story of an ancient Library. LiveStories: Civic Analytics Platform. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.livestories.com/blog/the-future-of-open-data-in-the-story-of-an-ancient-library.
- Dhwty. (2019, April 9). Ashurbanipal: The oldest surviving Royal Library in the world with over 30,000 clay tablets. Ancient Origins. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/ashurbanipal-oldest-surviving-royal-library-world-over-30000-clay-tablets-007127.
- Joe, J. (2022, April 7). Royal Library of Ashurbanipal: The Long Lost House of Ancient Wisdom. Timeless Myths. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.timelessmyths.com/history/royal-library-of-ashurbanipal/.
- Cowie , A. (2020, August 10). August 10 612 BC: Nineveh, the Largest City in the Word, Fell. August 10 612 BC: Nineveh, the largest city in the world, fell. Ishtar Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,38768.html.
- Hunter, M. (2016, July 2). Nineveh destroyed. Bible Timeline. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/nineveh-destroyed/.
- Taylor , J. (2018, October 25). A library fit for a king. British Museum Blog - Explore stories from the Museum. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://blog.britishmuseum.org/a-library-fit-for-a-king/.