Ashurbanipal Aššur-bāni-apli ܐܫܘܪ ܒܢܐ ܐܦܠܐ |
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King of Assyria, Babylonia, Akkad, Sumer, Egypt, Kush and Elam ܡܠܟܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ ܘܒܒܠ ܘܐܟܕ ܘܫܘܡܪ ܘܡܨܪܝܢ ܘܟܘܫ ܘܥܝܠܡ Malkā d-ʾĀṯūr w-Bāḇēl w-Akkad w-Šūmēr w-Miṣrēn w-Kūš w-'Īlām |
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Part of the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal
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Reign | 668 – c. 627 BC |
Predecessor | Esarhaddon |
Successor | Aššur-etel-ilāni |
Born | 685 BC Nineveh |
Died | 627 BC Nineveh |
Spouse | Libbāli-šarrat |
Issue |
Aššur-etel-ilāni Sîn-šarru-iškun Aššur-uballiṭ II(?) |
Dynasty | Sargonid dynasty |
Father | Esarhaddon |
Mother | Aššur-hammat |
Assyrian Art: Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions, Smarthistory |
Ashurbanipal (Akkadian: Aššur-bāni-apli; Syriac: "ܐܫܘܪ ܒܢܐ ܐܦܠܐ"; 'Ashur is the creator of an heir'; 668 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last strong king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (934–609 BC). He is famed for amassing a significant collection of cuneiform documents for his royal palace at Nineveh. This collection, known as the Library of Ashurbanipal, is now housed at the British Museum, which also holds the famous Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal set of Assyrian palace reliefs.
In the Hebrew Bible he is called Asenappar (Ezra 4:10). Roman historian Justinus identified him as Sardanapalus, although the fictional Sardanapalus is depicted as the last king of Assyria, and an ineffectual, effete and debauched character, whereas three further kings succeeded Ashurbanipal, who was in fact an educated, efficient, highly capable and ambitious warrior king.
Ashurbanipal was born toward the end of a 1500-year period of Assyrian ascendancy.
His father, Esarhaddon, the youngest son of Sennacherib, had become heir when the crown prince, Ashur-nadin-shumi, was deposed by rebels from his position as vassal for Babylon. Esarhaddon was the son not of Sennacherib's queen, Tashmetum-sharrat, but of the "palace woman" Zakutu, "the pure" (cf. Modern Standard Arabic زكاة [zakāt], "that which purifies"), known by her native name, Naqi'a. There are some suggestions Zakutu may have been an Israelite or Aramean concubine, while others point to her family origins being in the northern Assyrian city of Harran. The only queen known for Esarhaddon was Ashur-hamat, who died in 672 BC.