Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal: A Multi-sectional Analysis of Assyriology's Foundational Corpus
Lead Research Organisation:
British Museum
Department Name: Middle East
Abstract
Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal will interpret the single most important group of texts from the ancient Near East using a series of interlocking case studies. The 31,000 tablets and fragments found in the ruins of Nineveh, the capital of King Ashurbanipal's (668-631 BCE) empire, have been central to the modern study of Assyrian and Babylonian scholarship for almost two centuries now. Yet the sheer size and complexity of this corpus, together with uncertainties generated by the shortcomings of the pioneering excavation techniques and museological practices, have hindered our understanding of what that collection of texts actually represents. For while we now understand in detail particular texts or groups within the "Library", we know very little about the "Library" itself. A body of interpretations has accumulated, based on the experience of several individual scholars, but the evidence base for these interpretations is very weak. These interpretations are open to serious challenge.
Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal addresses the key question: What is "Ashurbanipal's Library", as we know it? The project approaches this question through three subsidiary research objectives, each of which leverages paratextual information to elucidate a significant section of the corpus. The first such objective, "Understanding Colophon Types", systematically analyses the scribal notes appended to Library tablets by establishing a new taxonomy and studying the relationship between the text contained on the tablets and the colophons appended to them. For the first time, it will establish how many tablets from Nineveh bear a library label and how many tablets belonged to collections other than Ashurbanipal's own. The second objective, "Literature in Library Records", correlates the tablets discovered at Nineveh with those mentioned in ancient lists recording acquisitions by Ashurbanipal. This will reveal key information about the scope of his collection, as well as how his library functioned. The third objective, "Tablets to Nineveh", exploits the information provided in the texts about the origin of the originals from which they were copied. The main points to be studied are how scholarly knowledge arrived at Nineveh, what the significance of the Assyrian and Babylonian inputs was, and what form they took.
Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal makes it possible for the first time to offer an analysis of the "Library" based on detailed, systematic and thorough surveys of the evidence. It builds on many years of preparatory work, and utilises digital technologies to help overcome the otherwise unmanageable mass of material. The project relies on a series of carefully constructed studies to investigate aspects of the Library that have never been the topic of serious scrutiny, and benefits from the uniquely close relationship of British Museum staff with the collection and from the pioneering methods to study cuneiform tablets developed at LMU Munich.
Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal addresses the key question: What is "Ashurbanipal's Library", as we know it? The project approaches this question through three subsidiary research objectives, each of which leverages paratextual information to elucidate a significant section of the corpus. The first such objective, "Understanding Colophon Types", systematically analyses the scribal notes appended to Library tablets by establishing a new taxonomy and studying the relationship between the text contained on the tablets and the colophons appended to them. For the first time, it will establish how many tablets from Nineveh bear a library label and how many tablets belonged to collections other than Ashurbanipal's own. The second objective, "Literature in Library Records", correlates the tablets discovered at Nineveh with those mentioned in ancient lists recording acquisitions by Ashurbanipal. This will reveal key information about the scope of his collection, as well as how his library functioned. The third objective, "Tablets to Nineveh", exploits the information provided in the texts about the origin of the originals from which they were copied. The main points to be studied are how scholarly knowledge arrived at Nineveh, what the significance of the Assyrian and Babylonian inputs was, and what form they took.
Reading the Library of Ashurbanipal makes it possible for the first time to offer an analysis of the "Library" based on detailed, systematic and thorough surveys of the evidence. It builds on many years of preparatory work, and utilises digital technologies to help overcome the otherwise unmanageable mass of material. The project relies on a series of carefully constructed studies to investigate aspects of the Library that have never been the topic of serious scrutiny, and benefits from the uniquely close relationship of British Museum staff with the collection and from the pioneering methods to study cuneiform tablets developed at LMU Munich.
Organisations
| Description | We are already gaining an understanding of the Library as a collection, with a solid evidence base. We have a much better idea of how many tablets must have been in it, what kind of tablets they were, where they came from, and how they were treated. We know how many tablets contain a 'colophon' (scribal note marking ownership). And we have made progress on understanding the many different standardised colophons that were used in the Library. Alongside a default ownership label, and an abbreviated version of it, there are a couple with more restricted use. They suggest collecting over a period of time. Some were applied only to specific types of texts. Others are rare or occur only once, indicating the dynamism of the collection. We have identified many new examples of tablets dedicated to the temple of the god of writing, which collection had been mixed with the Library proper following the early excavations. There are hundreds of colophons indicating original ownership by individual scribes. In most cases, only one tablet is known per scribe. This indicates both breadth of collecting and selective acquisition. Furthermore, these scribes do not match those named in ancient acquisition lists. Therefore, we can refute the idea that the Library is largely the product of an intense period of looting following the capture of Babylon. It makes clear that the many tablets that arrived at that time were subsequently copied and/or have not yet been found. We have had initial successes in studying the tablets themselves in new ways. For example, we have two tablets that are copies of the same text, each with a different Library colophon. More importantly, multiple features make clear that one is a direct copy of the other. Once we are able to identify a sufficient number of such examples, we should understand how the colophons relate to each other, and thereby understand the processes involved in the development of the Library. We are starting to identify sets of tablets that seem to belong together and therefore probably arrived together. Our work on correlating tablets with those listed in ancient inventories has yielded its first definite match. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work highlights compelling future avenues for research. Once the colophons are all properly identified and reconstructed, and our fragment identifications are complete, it would be fruitful to build on the advances in diplomatics and palaeography to further group the tablets. There is also scope for investigating the contribution of this material to library studies, and 'library' as a concept in the ancient world. |
| Sectors | Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://oracc.org/asbp/rlasb/ |
| Description | Our work has provoked discussion of how the way we display inscribed objects in the museum can improve. In particular, discussion focuses on how to engage audiences with the dynamic nature of knowledge as a result of sustained research. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| Impact Types | Cultural Policy & public services |
| Title | Colophons database |
| Description | The database collects and describes the corpus of tablets that forms the basis of the study. It is fundamental to our research. At present it is accessible to project members. In due course it will be made public. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The database permits us to define and refine our study corpus. It allows us to manipulate and visualise the data we have collected, helping us to evaluate correlations between features. |
| Title | Corpus of transliterations |
| Description | The corpus is a dataset containing transliterations of all the colophons under study in the project. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The corpus allows us to classify the individual manuscripts, reconstruct composite editions, facilitates joins between fragments, and will allow us to present content externally. |
| Title | electronic Babylonian Library |
| Description | Incorporation of colophon identifications into the publicly available eBL corpus. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This development allows anyone to access a key dimension of the contents of the Library, alongside the images, transliterations, and cataloguing information. |
| URL | https://www.ebl.lmu.de/fragmentarium |
| Description | Making sense of Ashurbanipal's Library (Frankfurt/Mainz) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of research progress to the peer community. Colleagues gained new understanding of one of the key datasets of the subject. They were able to reassess various theories relating to the acquisition processes behind the Library in the light of new evidence, and understand better how ancient and modern evidence combine. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Overview of Ashurbanipal Library colophons |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk providing an overview of the system behind the colophons of the Library. This put the medical colophons into their wider context, and allowed participants to discern the significance of scribal choices. During discussions before and during the event, we were able to advance knowledge of the editorial processes of the texts in the Library, and understand the relationship of different groups of medical texts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Partner to project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Public launch of a digital library containing our transliterations of colophons. This resource provides the entire scholarly community with access to all the raw data underlying our research. Aligning it with the digital library helps those interested in colophons to understand the tablets to which they are attached. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.ebl.lmu.de/ |
| Description | Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Project website offering access to the material under study, currently at the highest level but later also each individual source. We also offer contextual information to help non-specialists understand the material and our research on it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | http://oracc.org/asbp/rlasb/ |
| Description | The Library of Ashurbanipal (British Museum) May 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public talk within an event discussing research on ancient Iraq. The talk stimulated questions around the research, knowledge gained since a recent public exhibition, and how these changes will be reflected in future displays. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The Library of Ashurbanipal, King of the World (Venice) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk presenting the latest state of research to advanced research students and staff. Attendees were able to explore scribal practices within a cross-cultural context. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The Library of the King of the World (Cambridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecture explaining the changing interpretations of the Library. Attendees were able to re-examine the evidence for interpretations, and reflect on how historical circumstances and scholarly habits influence them. During discussions, students sought further information relating to the impact of this research on their own work. They reflected on the potential of new technologies to help solve longstanding problems, and how different types of research can be combined effectively. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | academic guest lecture at the University of Cambridge |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This talk shared the results of the project team with colleagues and students, generating a lively discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | academic talk about the Library |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This talk explored the progress made by the project so far, and its implications for our understanding of the Library. Attention was paid to how scientific analyses can integrate with more traditional humanities based approaches. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | academic talk at the University of Tokyo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the project's work was shared with colleagues, including many who specialise in the Neo-Assyrian period. Our results help inform their work going forward. And their critique of our research and the advice they were able to offer based on their experience helps us in the next stages of our work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | academic workshop on Babylonian colophons |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This workshop focused on the smaller group of colophons in the Library: those of Babylonian texts. Much remains unclear about who wrote these texts and how they came to the Library. Discussion focused on how the Babylonian tablets fit with the Assyrian ones in the Library's history. This provided us with new ideas about how to progress our analysis of this part of the collection. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | participation in academic workshop 'Scribes and librarians at work', University of Venice |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two team members presented research as part of a workshop exploring first millennium BC cuneiform scholarship. We were able to share and discuss our ideas with colleagues active on related topics. This brought attention in particular to the materiality of the Library tablets, and to specific text types. This provided useful tests for our reconstructions, as well as offering colleagues new perspectives relevant to their research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | presentation to museum staff |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of our project work inspired discussion of several topics: long-term research infrastructure building; integrating scientific and humanities approaches; how to display clay tablets; how to engage visitors with the changing nature of our understanding of the past through research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | public talk (British Museum) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | This presentation was part of an event to inform and inspire museum volunteers. They are then able to include the latest research in their work, such as in gallery tours for museum visitors. Attendees reported enthusiasm for the topic, and they were keen to expand their activity in this area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | scholarly workshop about colophons in the medical corpus from Nineveh and elsewhere |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A workshop to discuss the significance of the colophons attached to medical texts. This was an opportunity to explore the implications of our reconstruction against a specific part of the Library in detail, and in the wider context of Mesopotamian scholarship. One significant result was evidence to support the reconstruction. It in turn sheds light on the chronology of the medical texts in the Library, and then on the editorial processes at work in the Library. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |