Granowicz 1

Alyssa Granowicz

Professor Thomson

History 134

February 19, 2017

The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal

Known as the oldest surviving royal library in the world, the Royal Library of

Ashurbanipal was discovered by archaeologists at the site of Nineveh in the 1850s, now known

as Kouyunjik1. The library was named after the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire,

Ashurbanipal (ca. 668-627 B.C.)2. It contains over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments with

subjects ranging from government records to works of literature written in the cuneiform script3.

Among these tables were the Babylonian Epic of Creation and the epic tale of Gilgamesh, the

oldest adventure story extant4. The original Mesopotamian story of the Great Flood, which pre-

dates the story in the Bible, was found among these tablets of Nineveh, making the librarys

discovery to be considered one of the greatest finds in archeological history5.

Ashurbanipal was the sixth Neo-Assyrian king who ruled over Assyria and Babylonia6.

During King Ashurbanipals ruling, after the destruction of Elam, there were no rivals near the

Assyrian Empire7. Because of this, he turned his attention to the great patron of the arts, creating

his famous library, the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal8. He created his library in the citadel of his

Assyrian capital city Nineveh and incorporated Assyrian and Babylonian tablets into his

collection9. While creating his library, King Ashurbanipal wrote to cities and centres of learning

across Mesopotamia, instructing them to send all copies of every written work ever set down to

him10. He was concerned not just with the size of the library, but making sure he had every single
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important piece of work in the Mesopotamian canon12. Later, when King Ashurbanipals empire

fell, as he claimed himself, the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal was his greatest

accomplishment13.

The library was immense in size and scope showing how successful the King was at

collecting the works he requested from his subjects13. There were four or more different

buildings that that tablets excavated in Nineveh had originally been stored in14. These buildings

were the South-West Palace, the North Palace, the areas of the Ishtar- and Nabu-temples, and on

and off the mound of Kouyunjik; most of the libraries were housed on the second floor15.

According to Jeanette C. Fincke, the tablet collection in the South-West Palace was what formed

the Ashurbanipal library. It was constructed in 703 B.C and served as the Kings principal royal

residence16. There were tablets of scholarly texts, as well as, the archives of Sennacherib,

Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, who were all earlier kings, that were considered historical

curiosities as they were found in the literary texts found in this library17. The tablets were found

widely spread out; the rooms in the South-West Palace were lined with sculptured panels18. The

North Palace contained literary and scientific texts, as well as, archives of Sargon II and the post-

established period19. It was restored in 646 B.C. to be the Palace of Assurbanipal20.

The library of the temple of Nabu held around 280 tables dating from 800 B.C. to the end

of the Assyrian empire21. Divination texts, rituals and incantation, literary work, and historic

works were all included in this library22. The temple of Nabu was in the city of Kalhu, which was

the main residence of the Assyrian kings from 864 to 704 B.C.23. It is located close to the south

corner of the North Palace and is said to have held script pre-dating Ashurbanipal24. Tablets

dating from the Uruk to the Old Babylonian period were yielded from the Ishtar temple25. A lot

of the records and library itself were largely dispersed by later activity26.The book of the Great
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Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest adventure story extent, was discovered on the large mound of

Kouyunjik in 185227.

In 612 B.C., when the combined force of Babylonians and Medes conquered Nineveh,

invaders destroyed most of these buildings, sending fragments of tablets scattered everywhere,

making it difficult for architects today to rejoin the pieces back together28. The Ashurbanipal

library was buried beneath the Kings palace and was lost to history for over 2,000 years29. The

discovery of the royal library was huge and changed the way modern day people understood the

past. The British Museums Ashurbanipal Library project is a project that collects the tablets

from and texts, studies them, and publishes their findings and results for others to find30. Before

the finding of the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, the Bible was known as the oldest book in the

world.
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Notes

1. Mark, Joshua J. "Ashurbanipal." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 02 Sept. 2009.

Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Fincke, Jeanette C. "The Royal Library at Nineveh." Nature 63.1641 (1901): 562-64.

Print. 111-115.

7. Mark, Joshua J. Ashurbanipal.

8. Ibid.

9. Fincke, Jeanette C., p. 112.

10. Mark, Joshua J. Ashurbanipal.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Fincke, Jeanette C., p.114.

15. Ibid. p. 114-115.

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16. Taylor, Jonathan. "Southwest Palace." Ashurbanipal Library Project. The British

Museum, 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Jimnez, Enrique. "Cities and Libraries." Cuneiform Commentaries Project. Yale

University, 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid.

24. Taylor, Jonathan. Southwest Palace.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Damrosch, David. The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of

Gilgamesh. New York: H. Holt, 2010. Print. 83-85

28. Fincke, Jeanette C., p. 114-115.

29. Mark, Joshua J. Ashurbanipal.

30. Fincke, Jeanette C., p. 111.