Library of Ashurbanipal

E199554
ancient library cuneiform tablet collection royal archive

The Library of Ashurbanipal was an ancient royal archive in Nineveh that preserved thousands of cuneiform tablets, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, making it one of the earliest and most important libraries in history.

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All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
Library of Ashurbanipal canonical 4
library of Ashurbanipal 2
Ashurbanipal library tablets 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient library ⓘ
cuneiform tablet collection ⓘ
royal archive ⓘ
associatedRuler Ashurbanipal ⓘ
cityType capital city of the Neo-Assyrian Empire ⓘ
collectionMethod copying of older Sumerian and Akkadian works ⓘ
systematic acquisition of texts from across Mesopotamia ⓘ
collectionSizeEstimate over 30,000 tablets and fragments ⓘ
constructionBegan reign of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
containsWork Atrahasis ⓘ
Enuma Elish ⓘ
Epic of Gilgamesh ⓘ
astronomical texts ⓘ
epic literature ⓘ
grammatical texts ⓘ
historical chronicles ⓘ
legal texts ⓘ
letters ⓘ
lexical lists ⓘ
medical texts ⓘ
myths ⓘ
omens and divination texts ⓘ
royal inscriptions ⓘ
countryAtTime Neo-Assyrian Empire ⓘ
culturalContext Mesopotamia ⓘ
surface form: Mesopotamian civilization
destructionEvent sack of Nineveh in 612 BCE ⓘ
discoveredBy Austen Henry Layard ⓘ
excavationBegan 1840s ⓘ
foundedBy Ashurbanipal ⓘ
languages Akkadian ⓘ
Sumerian ⓘ
legacy crucial for reconstruction of the Epic of Gilgamesh ⓘ
key source for modern knowledge of Mesopotamian literature ⓘ
locatedIn Nineveh ⓘ
locatedInAncientCity North Palace of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
surface form: Nineveh palace complex
locatedInPresentDay Iraq ⓘ
majorExcavator Hormuzd Rassam ⓘ
namedAfter Ashurbanipal ⓘ
organization tablets arranged by subject ⓘ
preservationState fragmentary but extensive ⓘ
significance one of the earliest known libraries in history ⓘ
one of the most important collections of Mesopotamian literature ⓘ
tabletsCurrentlyHeldAt British Museum ⓘ
Iraqi National Museum ⓘ
surface form: Iraqi Museum

various museums worldwide ⓘ
timePeriod 7th century BCE ⓘ
UNESCOStatus Memory of the World International Register ⓘ
surface form: Memory of the World Register (tablets from the library)
writingSystem cuneiform ⓘ

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Assyria → hasLibrary → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
Epic of Gilgamesh → discoveredIn → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
Hormuzd Rassam → notableDiscovery → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
this entity surface form: Ashurbanipal library tablets
Enuma Elish → discoveredAt → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
this entity surface form: library of Ashurbanipal
Kuyunjik → hasDiscovery → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
Ashurbanipal → created → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
Middle Assyrian → evidenceFrom → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
this entity surface form: archives at Nineveh
Sargonid dynasty → knownFor → Library of Ashurbanipal ⓘ
this entity surface form: library of Ashurbanipal