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Secondary sourceBook1876

The Chaldean Account of Genesis, Chapter 2 on Ashurbanipal's library

George Smith · 1876

A chapter by George Smith, published in 1876, that describes the Babylonian and Assyrian literature gathered in Ashurbanipal's library.

This chapter studies Ashurbanipal's library and its contents, showing how modern scholars came to understand the king's collection.

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About this source

What it is

This is a chapter from a book by George Smith, published in 1876. Its second chapter is titled Babylonian and Assyrian Literature. It describes tablets found in the ruins of palaces at Kouyunjik, and it discusses the library of Ashurbanipal, including his additions and the description of its contents.

Why it matters

Smith was writing in the 1800s, when scholars were beginning to read cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia. His chapter shows how modern readers first pieced together the library that Ashurbanipal had built. It also reflects the way the king is named in later accounts as Sardanapalus.

Look closer

  • Which parts of the library does the author describe, and which does he admit are fragmentary or uncertain?
  • Why might a writer in 1876 link this library to a king who lived more than two thousand years earlier?
  • What does this account leave out about the people who wrote and copied the tablets?

This book 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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