Ashurbanipal, Assurbanipal or Sardanapal, in Akkadian Aššur-bāni-apli, (b. 685 BCE – d. 627 BCE) (reigned 669 – ca. 631 BC or 627 BC), the son of Esarhaddon, was the last great king of ancient Assyria. He is famous as one of the few kings in antiquity who could read and write. Assyrian sculpture reached its apogee under his rule (Northern palace and south-western palace at Nineveh, battle of Ulai). The Greeks knew him as Sardanapalos; Latin and other medieval texts refer to him as Sardanapalus. In the Bible he is called As(e)nappar or Osnapper (Ezra 4:10).

During his rule, Assyrian splendour was not only visible in its military power, but also its culture and art. Ashurbanipal created "the first systematically collected library" at Nineveh, where he attempted to gather all cuneiform literature available by that time. A library was distinct from an archive: earlier repositories of documents had accumulated passively, in the course of administrative routine.

Roman historian Justinus identified him as Sardanapalus.

Ashurbanipal was born toward the end of a fifteen-hundred-year period of Assyrian ascendancy. His name in Assyrian is Ashur-bani-apli (the god Ashur has made a[nother] son), affirming that he was not intended to stand in the line of royal accession.

His father, Esarhaddon, 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 not the son of Sennacherib's queen, Tashmetum-sharrat, but of the West Semitic "palace woman" Zakutu, known by her native name, Naqi'a. The only queen known for Esarhaddon was Ashur-hamat, who died in 672 BC

Ashurbanipal grew up in the small palace called bit reduti (house of succession), built by Sennacherib when he was crown prince in the northern quadrant of Nineveh. In 694, Sennacherib had completed the "Palace Without Rival" at the southwest corner of the acropolis, obliterating most of the older structures. The "House of Succession" had become the palace of Esarhaddon, the crown prince. In this house, Ashurbanipal's grandfather was assassinated by uncles identified only from the biblical account as Adrammelek and Sharezer. From this conspiracy, Esarhaddon emerged as king in 681. He proceeded to rebuild as his residence the bit masharti (weapons house, or arsenal). The "House of Succession" was left to his mother and the younger children, including Ashurbanipal.

The names of five brothers and one sister are known. Sin-iddin-apli, the intended crown prince, died prior to 672. Not having been expected to become heir to the throne, Ashurbanipal was trained in scholarly pursuits as well as the usual horsemanship, hunting, chariotry, soldierliness, craftsmanship, and royal decorum. In a unique autobiographical statement, Ashurbanipal specified his youthful scholarly pursuits as having included oil divination, mathematics, and reading and writing. Ashurbanipal was the only Assyrian king who learned how to read and write.

In 672, upon the death of his queen, Esarhaddon reorganized the line of succession at the instigation of his mother. He used the submission of Median chieftains to draft a treaty. The chieftains swore that if Esarhaddon died while his sons were still minors, they and their children would guarantee the succession of Ashurbanipal as king of Assyria and Shamash-shum-ukin as king of Babylon even though Ashurbanipal was the younger of the two. Before this his elder brother Sin-iddina-apla was Esarhaddon's heir but he died in the same year. A monumental stela set up two years later in a northwestern province portrays Esarhaddon in high relief upon its face and each of the sons on a side. These portraits, the earliest dated for Ashurbanipal and his brother, show both with the full beard of maturity.

The princes pursued diverse educations thereafter. Extant letters from Shamash-shum-ukin offer his father reports of the situation in Babylon; Ashurbanipal at home received letters as crown prince. The situation came to an immediate crisis in 669, when Esarhaddon, on campaign to Egypt, died suddenly. Ashurbanipal did not accede to the kingship of Assyria until late in the year. His grandmother Zakutu required all to support his sole claim to the throne and to report acts of treason from now on to him and herself. This shows how influential the old lady was at the beginning of Ashurbanipal's reign. The official ceremonies of coronation came in the second month of the new year, and within the same year (668), Ashurbanipal installed his brother as King of Babylon. The transition took place smoothly, and the dual monarchy of the youthful brothers began. Texts describe their relationship as if they were twins. It was clear, however, that Ashurbanipal, as king of Assyria, like his fathers before him, was also "king of the universe."

The inheritance of Esarhaddon not only included the throne but also his war with Egypt and its Kushite lords, the kings of Dynasty 25. In 667 he sent an army against it that defeated king Taharqa near Memphis, Ashurbanipal stayed at his capital in Nineveh. At the same time the Egyptian vassals rebelled and the Assyrian army had to crush them. All of the leaders were sent to Nineveh, only Necho I the Prince of Sais, convinced the Assyrians of his loyalty and was sent back to become king of Egypt. After the death of Taharqa in 664 BC his nephew and successor Tantamani invaded Upper Egypt and made Thebes his capital. In Memphis he defeated the other Egyptian princes and Necho may have died in the battle. Another army was sent by Ashurbanipal and again it succeeded in defeating the Kushites. Tantamani retreated to his homeland and stayed there. The Assyrian plundered Thebes and took much booty home with them. How the Assyrian interference in Egypt ended is not certain but Necho’s son Psammetichus I gained independence while keeping his relations with Assyria friendly. An interesting Assyrian royal inscription tells us of how the Lydian king Gyges received dreams from the Assyrian god Ashur. The dreams told him that when he submitted to Ashurbanipal he would conquer his foes. After he sent his ambassadors to do so he was indeed able to defeat his Cimmerians enemies. But when he supported the rebellion of one of the Egyptian rebels his country was overrun by the Cilicians. .

For the time being the dual monarchy went well. For his assignment of his brothers, Ashurbanipal sent a statue of the divinity Marduk with him as sign of good will. Shamsh-shuma-ukin's powers were limited. He performed Babylonian rituals but the official building projects were still executed by his younger brother. During his first years Elam was still in peace as it was under his father. Ashurbanipal even claimed that he sent food supplies during a famine. Around 664 BC the situation changed and Urtaku the Elamite king attacked Babylonia by surprise. Assyria delayed in sending aid to Babylon, this could have been caused for two reasons: either the soothing messages of Elamite ambassadors or Ashurbanipal might simply not have been present at that time. Elamites retreated before the Assyrian troops, and in the same year Urtaku died. He was succeeded by Teumman (Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak) who was not his legimate heir. So, many of Elamite princes had to flee from him to Ashurbanipal's court including Urtaku’s oldest son Humban-nikash. In 658 BC/657 BC the two empires clashed again. The reason for this was the treasonous province of Gambulu in 664 acting against the Assyrians. Ashurbanipal finally decided to punish them for that. On the other hand, Teumman saw his authority threatened by Elamite princes at the Assyrian court and demanded their extradition. When the Assyrian forces invaded Elam a battle followed at the Ulaya river.

Elam was defeated in the battle in which, according to Assyrian reliefs, Teumman committed suicide. Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak and Ashurbanipal installed Humban-nikash as king of Madaktu and another prince, Tammaritu, as king of the city Hidalu. Elam was considered as a new vassal of Assyria and so tribute was imposed upon him. With the Elamite problem solved the Assyrians could finally punish Gumbulu and seized its capital. The victorious army marched home taking with them the head of Teumman. In Nineveh, when the Elamite ambassadors saw the head they lost control; one tore out his beard and the other committed suicide but this wasn’t enough. As further humiliation the head of the Elamite king was put on display at the port of Nineveh. The death and head of Teumman was depicted multiple times in the reliefs of Ashurbanipal's palace.

Friction must have grown between the two brother kings and in 652 BC Babylon rebelled. This time Babylon was not alone – it had allied itself with Assyrian Chaldean tribes, its southern regions, the kings of Guti, Amurru, and Malluha, and even Elam. According to a later Aramaic tale on Papyrus 63, SShasm-shuma-ukin formally declared war on Ashurbanipal in a letter where he claims that his brother is only the governor of Nineveh and his subject. Again the Assyrians delayed an answer, this time due to unfavourable omens. It’s not certain how the rebellion affected the Assyrian heartlands but some unrest in the cities indicates that there were problems. When Babylon finally was attacked, the Assyrians proved to be more powerful. Civil war prevented further military aid and in 648 BC Borsippa and Babel were besieged. Without aid the situation was hopeless. After two year Shamash-shuma-ukin met his end in his burning palace just before the city surrendered. This time Babel was not destroyed as under Sennacherib but a terrible massacre under the rebellions took place according to the king's inscriptions. Ashurbanipal allowed Babylon to keep its independence but it became even more formal than before. The next king Kandalanu left no official inscription probably as his function was only ritual.

Ashurbanipal was proud of his scribal education. He was one of the few kings who could read cuneiform script in Akkadian and Sumerian and claimed that he even understood texts from before the great flood. He was also able to solve mathematical problems. During his reign he collected cuneiform texts from all over Mesopotamia and especially Babylonia in the library of Nineveh. The genres found during excavations included standard lists used by scribes and scholars, word lists, bilingual vocabularies, lists of signs and synonyms, lists of medical diagnoses, omen texts (the largest group), astronomic/astrological texts, and literature like Enuma elish and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The scholar texts proved to be very helpful in deciphering cuneiform.

During the final decade of his rule, Assyria was quite peaceful, but the country apparently faced a serious decline. Documentation from the last years of Ashurbanipal's reign is very scarce, and even the date of his death is not known for certain. The latest attestations of Ashurbanipal's reign are of his year 38 (631 BC), but according to later sources he reigned for 42 years (to 627 BC). Because of the chronological difficulties that arise with his death in 627 Ashurbanipal must have died at an earlier date (probably already in 631) or he could have reigned together with his son and successor Ashur-etil-ilani. Whatever may have been the case, after his death there was a power struggle. The contenders included Ashur-etil-ilani, his brother Sinsharishkun, general Sin-shumu-lishir, and the eventual new king of Babylon, Nabopolassar. Who fought against whom is not certain.

Ashurbanipal is one of the most popular Assyrian kings, as his name is often used for boys within Assyrian communities today.

* Death of Sardanapalus, an 1827 painting by Eugène Delacroix.

*Ashurbanipal *The Library of King Ashurbanipal Web Page *http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~szuchman/Sources.htm'>Assurbanipal Coronation Hymn take me back!