Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria
I am Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria and King of the World.
In addition to the impressive victories I achieved on the military level, I am the founder of the first and largest library in history. Therefore, I was a man of the sword and the pen.
(In Akkadian: meaning: “Assyria has given birth to a son and heir”). The Greeks knew him as “Sardanapalus,” and in the Torah he was called “Usnapir.” King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the fourth king of the Sargonic dynasty, he ruled Assyria for 37 years from the death of his father Esarhaddon in 668 BC until his death in 631 BC. Ashurbanipal is remembered as the last great king of Assyria.
At the time of Ashurbanipal's rule, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. Ashurbanipal was the grandson of Sennacherib, and the son of Esarhaddon, whom he chose as heir in 672 BC. Although not the eldest son, Ashurbanipal ascended to the throne in 669 BC jointly. With his older brother Shamash-shum-ukin, who became king of Babylon. He spent much of the early years of his reign fighting rebellions in Egypt, which his father had conquered.
Ashurbanipal's greatest campaigns were those directed against Elam, Assyria's old enemy, and against his brother Shamash-shum-ukin, who expected to be Ashurbanipal's equal and began to resent the arrogant control his younger brother held over him. Elam was defeated in a series of campaigns led by Ashurbanipal in 665 BC and 647-646 BC. After that, the cities of Elam were destroyed and its people were slaughtered, and the land remained barren and without protection. Then Shamash-shum-ukin rebelled in the year 652 BC and formed an alliance of Assyria’s enemies to fight alongside him against Ashurbanipal, but he was defeated by Ashurbanipal. After that, his rule extended for 37 years and his fame as a conqueror and king was so long that he was known as the “King of the World.” He raised Assyria to the height of greatness that had never been known before. He was committed to its history, but he was famous, in particular, for his interest in and encouragement of peaceful achievements. He built a magnificent palace in Nineveh, some of whose interior walls were decorated with beautiful relief carvings and magnificent statues. He founded schools, paved and paved roads, and constructed public buildings.
Notice the pen that the king placed on his side
He is Ashurbanipal, the man who reads, seeks out culture and knowledge.
The mural is in the British Museum
Source: websites