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Primary sourceDocumentca. 668–627 BCE

Stone Slab Fragment from the Annals of Ashurbanipal

ca. 668–627 BCE

A limestone fragment inscribed with part of the royal annals recording Ashurbanipal's reign.

This fragment preserves part of Ashurbanipal's own royal annals, a direct record from his reign.

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Photograph of an irregular grey stone slab fragment, angled diagonally on a light background. Its face is covered in rows of cuneiform wedge-shaped signs incised in horizontal lines; the edges are broken and uneven.
Stone slab fragment from the annals of Ashurbanipal, ca. 668-627 BC. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This limestone slab fragment, dating to about 668-627 BC, carries part of the royal annals of King Ashurbanipal, inscribed in cuneiform. It is held today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which purchased it in 1886.

Why it matters

Royal annals were official records kept to document a king's achievements, military campaigns and building projects. This fragment is a direct, contemporary record from Ashurbanipal's own reign, giving historians firsthand evidence of how he wanted his rule remembered.

Look closer

  • What does the broken condition of the slab tell you about what has been lost from the historical record?
  • Why would a king order his own achievements written down in stone?
  • What kinds of events might annals leave out or exaggerate?

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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