Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal was the last of the great kings of Assyria, who ruled from 669 to 631 BCE. He inherited the throne as the favored heir of his father Esarhaddon, who had conquered Egypt and expanded the empire to its greatest extent. Ashurbanipal was a capable ruler and a patron of art and literature. He was interested in the ancient culture of Mesopotamia and collected thousands of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing from various sources. He built a library in his capital Nineveh, where he stored these texts and documents of different genres. The library was the first of its kind in the ancient world and contained works on history, religion, science, literature, and more. Some of the texts were original compositions by Ashurbanipal or his scribes, while others were copies or translations of older works from Babylon, Sumer, Akkad, and other regions. The library was not only a repository of knowledge, but also a symbol of Ashurbanipal's power and prestige. Ashurbanipal was also a formidable warrior and a ruthless conqueror. He waged war against many enemies, including Elam, an ancient rival of Assyria, and his own brother Shamash-shum-ukin, who rebelled against him in Babylon. Ashurbanipal defeated them both and showed no mercy to his captives. He boasted of his victories and atrocities in his annals and reliefs, which depict scenes of battles, sieges, executions, and lion hunts. He claimed to be the king of the universe and the representative of the god Ashur on earth. However, Ashurbanipal's reign also marked the beginning of the end of Assyria's dominance in the Near East. The empire had grown too large and too difficult to control. Revolts broke out in various provinces and foreign invaders threatened the borders. Ashurbanipal's successors were unable to cope with these challenges and the empire collapsed soon after his death. Nineveh was sacked and burned by the Babylonians and the Medes in 612 BCE and the library was destroyed. Many of the tablets were buried under the rubble and preserved for centuries until they were rediscovered by archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Today, they are considered as invaluable sources for the study of ancient Mesopotamia and its civilization.