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Primary sourceDocument1907 (transcription of ancient original)

Rassam Cylinder, Ansharpapash Section

Theophilus Goldridge Pinches · 1907 (transcription of ancient original)

A small section of cuneiform text from Ashurbanipal's own Rassam cylinder, copied by scholar Theophilus Pinches in 1907.

This is a scholarly transcription of part of Ashurbanipal's own royal inscription recording his campaigns.

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Three groups of cuneiform wedge signs written in black on a light background. The left group is a dense cluster of several wedges, the middle group has a diagonal stroke with wedges, and the right group is a single horizontal wedge sign with a small tail.
Rassam cylinder, Ansharpapash section, transcribed by Theophilus Pinches, 1907.

About this source

What it is

This image shows a short section of cuneiform writing from the Rassam cylinder, a clay record inscribed with the words of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The text here was copied out by the scholar Theophilus Pinches in 1907 for study.

Why it matters

The Rassam cylinder is one of Ashurbanipal's own royal inscriptions, recording his military campaigns in his own words. Scholars like Pinches worked to transcribe and translate these ancient texts so historians today can read what Assyrian kings wrote about themselves and their wars.

Look closer

  • What do the wedge-shaped signs look like, and how are they different from letters we use today?
  • Why would a king want his achievements written down and preserved on clay?
  • What is missing when we only see a small transcribed section rather than the whole cylinder?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ashurbanipal on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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