Ashurbanipal library Introduction : The Royal library of Ashurbanipal named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the neo-Assyrian Empi...
Ashurbanipal library
Introduction: The Royal library of Ashurbanipal named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the neo-Assyrian Empire is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing text of kinds form the 7th century. Be among its holding was the famous epic of Gilgamesh.
At a glace the library of Ashurbanipal:
Founder: Actually the library established by Assyrian emperor Sargon II, which is then developed by his great grandson Ashurbanipal.
Location:
Ashurbanipal library was in the royal capital of Assyrian in Nineveh.
Established:
The library was established probably in 7th B.C.
Size :
Over 20, 000 cuneiform tablets.
Collection: The library must have contained about ten-thousand different works on about thirty-thousand tablets. We found have many unique sources for the early history of Mesopotamia.
For example, the epic of Gilgamesh. It was preserved on twelve tablet in Ashurbanipal library. Thus the library preserved hundreds of legends, epic and here-faces.
Access:
The library of Ashurbanipal was open to scholars, both official and unofficial. In fact many series and scholars were employed by the king to revise, compile and edit the thousand of work brought together in the library.
Building: The library building was cohering with Ashurbanipal's several royal places.
Method of collection:
Under the direction of Ashurbanipal agents were sent to all parts of the Assyrian kingdom which then extended form the Persian Gulf to Mediterranean and even to foreign lands. The agents had responsibility collect written records of all kinds and on all subjects.
Origin and development of King Assurbanipal library:
At the reign of king Sargon II, the Assyrian developed a place library at Khorasabad that was a notable beginning. After Sargon death his grand son Ashurbanipal re-built the library and turned it into one of the biggest and enriches the library of ancient world.
Ashurbanipal replaced the capital to Nineveh and there he established a library holding with 30, 000 clay-tablets. He particularly interested in religion works, in citation and verbal-charms.
Though he ordered to his agents to bring back everything in writing, Ashurbanipal asked ‘’Nabu’ the Assyrian god of writing, for the prosperity of the library.
Collection:
Medical:
special diseases or parts of the body, plants, and stones for the curing of diseases
Lexical:
syllabaries and archaic word lists, grammatical texts
Epics:
Gilgamesh, Anzu myth, the Epic of Creation, literary myths about Ashurbanipal
Religious:
liturgies, prayers, cult songs and hymns, both monolingual and bilingual, lore from exorcists and lamentations.
Historical:
treaties, state propaganda about Ashurbanipal and Esarhaddon, letters to the kings or officials in the service of the king.
Divination:
astrology, extispicy reports--the Neo-Assyrians told the future by investigating sheep entrails
Astronomy:
movements of the planets, stars, and their constellations, mostly for astrological (divinatory) purposes
Ashurbanipal took pride with his library. It reveals from an official where showing that the gratefulness to his favorite god `Nabu’ Ashurbanipal says, `I have collated these tablets, I have had them cored. I have established marched them with my name and I have preserved them in my place’}
It saying that, Ashurbanipal controlled the content of the collection. Censored or not Ashurbanipal is the source of many valuable historical information.
Method of Preservation:
The collection was arranged according to the subject. For example, one room was fulfilled with tablets relating to history and government. A large separate room preserved the clay-tablets containing legends and mythology, the basic of the religion of Assyrian. The clay tablets containing branches of science. Such as-astrology, biology, mathematics, medicine was also available here.
The clay tablets of Ashurbanipal's library were kept in earthen jars this. Jars were kept in orderly rows or shelves. Each tablet hold an identification tag on the wall of each room, besides the door, there were a list of works, which were available in that room. It can be compared with shelf list.
The decline of Ashurbanipal Library:
In 612 B.C caldeam and medes were affected Nineveh, they destroyed in including, the library place. They never noticed about the clay tablets rather they just destroyed library walls. Thus thousands of tablets buried behind the walls for probably two and half thousands of years. Ashurbanipal historical library’s collections were recorded by the archaeologist of nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Library 20 thousands clay tablet is now preserved in British museum.
Conclusion:
Library is the called ‘the store house of knowledge. The main works of a library to collect information or printed materials and to be saved. These resources are for the new born nation. Ashurbanipal's library was the great library ancient time. There were many clay-tablets were collected by Ashurbanipal that also today be stored in British museum from where we can gather knowledge and ancient information and its now ancient land mark to us.
