Wednesday 8 February 2012

The Library of Nineveh

Ashurbanipal was a dictator.  He conquered all of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Babylon and Assur.  He fought like a mad lion.

One of Ashurbanipal's greatest possessions is the library of Nineveh.  In the library was not books or papyrus.  It was clay tablets.  And where did he get them?  Well I'll tell you.  Ashurbanipal sent out scribes all over his empire to collect them.  He also got his scribes to get people from all over Nineveh to write down what they knew aout history in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt.  The scribes also got doctors to write down what they new about medical care and medicine.

But those clay tabletas where very heavy so Ashurbanipal had to keep building rooms for them.  Soon he collected thousands and thousands of clay tablets.

And today a little bit of the Assyria library is in the possession of England's British Museum.


Ashurbanipal