The Library of Ashurbanipal: The Ancient World's Greatest Archive
Before Alexandria, there was Nineveh. Assyrian king Ashurbanipal assembled a vast library of cuneiform tablets in the 7th century BC, preserving Mesopotamian knowledge for millennia. When the city fell in 612 BC, the fire baked the clay tablets, ensuring their survival. Today, 33,000 tablets reside in the British Museum, offering an unparalleled window into ancient Assyria and the even older Sumerian and Akkadian traditions. This article explores the library's discovery, decipherment, and enduring significance.
I am the first man to read that after more than two thousand years of oblivion.
- pazimzadeh
> All three of the languages in the Persian inscriptions were a complete mystery: Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian
> One of the languages (Old Persian) turned out to be related to modern Persian, in which Rawlinson was fluent, and in 1846 he published an edition and translation of the inscription.
Fascinating. I wonder if there were any other Persian speakers at the time who could have helped with this, or was this mainly about Rawlinson hoarding the glory?
> The results were published in scholarly journals, sometimes leading to collaboration and discoveries, and sometimes laying bare fierce rivalries and competing theories. Rawlinson, for example, was initially convinced that cuneiform represented letters rather than syllables, and that it originated in Egypt. When he changed his mind and started reading the signs as syllables, he claimed not to remember how he had come to these conclusions, but seems to have plagiarised Hincks, as he also copied some of his mistakes.
There we go.
- rmunn
This has nothing to do with the library of Ashurbanipal itself, but is still worth mentioning. Ashurbanipal's library gets referenced in the VERY clever parody song "I Am the Very Model of a Biblical Philologist", which you can watch on the author's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x2SvqhfevE (video is under 4 minutes long).
Depending on your knowledge of ancient history and archaeology, you may find the song either mildly funny, or side-splittingly hilarious. (And no particular religious position is advanced in the song, it's pure silliness. Putting that out there in case anyone was worried by the title). Personally, I landed on the "hilarious" side of things, which is why I wanted to share this video with you all.
I hope this brightens up your day a little.
- timvdalen
Only tangentially related, but I can really recommend There are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak, which starts in this library