assurbanipal the king and man

Assurbanipal was born in 685 BCE, the second son of King Esarhaddon, and he ascended the throne in 668 BCE, aged about 17, after his father died. He was a hunter and a warrior as well as a scholar. His military campaigns extended throughout his region and his library preserves records of pillage and looting from modern Iran to Egypt; he also claimed to have personally killed 30 elephants, 370 lions and 257 other wild animals. An ancient Renaissance man...



The fact that being the second son Assurbanipal was not originally expected to become king may explain why his education included such scholarly angles as reading and writing and mathematics and oil divination, in addition to the more usual horsemanship, hunting, chariotry, soldierliness, craftsmanship and royal decorum. It has been surmised that Assurbanipal was the only king to be literate, but these assertions tend not to be referenced, and seem to be based solely on the boasts of Assurbanipal himself. Assurbanipal is the only Assyrian king who is known to have boasted about his ability to read. This skill certainly would have been extremely useful for anybody with the responsibilities of a king; it is possible that there were different degrees of literacy, and that most of those occupying aristocratic positions could read and write to some degree.

It is apparent that Assurbanipal’s level of education in this area was much greater. The following is a boast of Assurbanipal’s:

“I, Assurbanipal, have acquired the wisdom of Nabu (god of writing and wisdom, and patron of scribes; a more accurate translation of ‘Library’ is Temple to Nabu). I have learned to write on the tablets… I have solved the old mystery of division and multiplication, which had not been clear… I have read the elegant texts of Sumer and the obscure words of the Akkadians and decoded the inscriptions on the stone from the time before the Deluge.”

His apparently first-hand experience led him to describe archaic texts as “hermetic, dull and higgledy-piggledy”, and he claims to have not only read the ancient texts, but also to have studied them with senior scholars. Assurbanipal’s ‘colophon’ – the closest thing in ancient times to publication information – reads:

“Palace of Assurbanipal, king of the world… who has possessed himself of a clear eye and the choice art of tablet-writing, such as none among the kings, my predecessors, had acquired. The wisdom of Nabu, the ruled line, all that there is, have I inscribed upon tablets, checking and revising it, and that I might see and read them, have I placed them within my palace.”

It is always difficult to be sure of the veracity of ancient nobles’ claims to greatness – it is extremely rare for them to take responsibility for anything less. This is a very important consideration when researching ancient lives in general, borne out by numerous instances of ancient kings and generals from opposing sides in battle both claiming great victories. A problem that I have had with some of the more easily accessible references is that they tend not to take this into account. The references that do take into account the inadequacies of the archaeological record are much less accessible – most are only available through academic libraries and databases, which not everyone can access, and apart from this, they tend to be written in rather impenetrable language. The biggest problem that I have encountered so far while researching Assurbanipal’s library is that I have frequently found myself frustrated with the lack of time and resources at my disposal in order to delve as far into this subject as would be necessary to provide a more complete picture of Assurbanipal, his time, his empire and his library. I have also occasionally been frustrated by the potential that some widely accessible but poorly referenced sources of ‘information’ might have to mislead myself and others trying to research this subject.

References:

Axelrod, A & Phillips, C 1995, ‘Ashurbanipal’, Dictators & Tyrants: Absolute Rulers and Would-Be Rulers in World History, Ancient and Medieval History Online, Facts On File Inc, New York. Facts On File, Inc. Accessed April 17, 2010, http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE49&iPin=ffdict0041&SingleRecord=True

Dunlap, L 1972, Readings in library history, R. R. Bowker, New York.

Fincke, J 2004, ‘The British Museum’s Ashurbanipal library project’, Iraq, vol. 66, pp. 55-60.

Frahm, E 2004, ‘Royal hermeneutics: Observations on the commentaries from Ashurbanipal’s libraries at Nineveh’, Iraq, vol. 66, pp. 45-50.

Polastron, LX 2007, Books on fire : the destruction of libraries throughout history, trans. JE Graham, Inner Traditions, Rochester.

Smith CC 2004, ‘Ashurbanipal’, Great Lives from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory–476 c.e [serial online]. Accessed April 3, 2010, from Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA.