Ashurbanipal

From New World Encyclopedia
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal.jpg
Ashurbanipal at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
Reign 669 – ca. 631 B.C.E.
Predecessor Esarhaddon
Successor Ashur-etil-ilani

Ashurbanipal (Akkadian: Aššur-bāni-apli (= "Ashur created an heir"), (b. 685 B.C.E. – d. 627 B.C.E.), 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. During his rule, Assyrian splendor was not only visible in its military power, but also its culture and art. Ashurbanipal created the first known systematically collected library in history at Nineveh, where he attempted to gather all cuneiform literature available by that time. Its rediscovery provided a great volume of documents of extreme value to scholars. Assyrian sculpture also reached its zenith under his rule.

The son of Esarhaddon and grandson Sennacherib, Ashurbanipal originally trained as a scribe. When Esarhaddon's intended heir died, Ashurbanipal was nominated to inherit the throne at Nineveh while his elder brother Shamash-shum-ukin reigned in the religious capital of Babylon. This dual monarchy worked well at first, and Ashurbanipal successfully crushed revolts in the distant Assyrian vassal states of Egypt and Elam (Persia). Eventually Shamash-shum-ukin revolted, and Ashurbanipal put down this challenge to his rule with characteristic ruthlessness.

The final years of his reign are largely undocumented. After his death, a power struggle resulted in the ascendancy of Babylon and the emergence of the new Babylonian Empire. The Greeks knew Ashurbanipal as Sardanapalos and the Latins as Sardanapalus. In the Bible he is sometimes called Osnapper (Ezra 4:10).

Early life

The Assyrian Empire, with areas in light green representing its extent in the time of Ashurbanipal

Assurbanipal (also spelled Ashurbanipal, Ashurbanapal) was born toward the end of a 1500-year period of Assyrian ascendancy. His name in Assyrian is "Ashur-bani-apli," meaning "Ashur has made a[nother] son." 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 a vassal of Babylon.

Background

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 B.C.E., Sennacherib had completed the "Palace Without Rival" at the southwest corner of the city's acropolis, obliterating most of the older structures. The "House of Succession," meanwhile, 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, describing the events immediately after Sennacharib's siege of Jerusalem:

So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. (Isaiah 37:37-38)

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 of Ashurbanipal 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 is known to have learned how to read and write.

Heir to the throne

Partially reconstructed Adad Gate at Nineveh

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, the older of the two, as king of Babylon. Before this time, another elder son, Sin-iddina-apla had been 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 show both Ashurbanipal and his brother with the full beard of maturity.

After this point the princes continued to pursue diverse educations. Extant letters from Shamash-shum-ukin offer his father reports of the situation in Babylon, while Ashurbanipal, in Assyria, 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 formally to the kingship of Assyria until late in the year. To support his rights, his still influential grandmother, Zakutu, commanded all Assyrians to support his sole claim to the throne and to report acts of treason from now on to him and herself. The official ceremonies of coronation came in the second month of the new year, and within the same year (668), Ashurbanipal also 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."

Reign

Subduing Egypt and the West

Ashurbanipal hunting, a palace relief from Nineveh

Ashurbanipal's inheritance from 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 Egypt that defeated king Taharqa near Memphis. During this battle, Ashurbanipal remain at his capital in Nineveh. Assyria's Egyptian vassals also rebelled and the Assyrian army had to crush them as well. The Egyptian rulers were exiled to Nineveh. The future Pharaoh Necho I, the prince of Sais, convinced the Assyrians of his loyalty and was sent back to become king of Egypt as Assyria's vassal.

However, after the death of Taharqa in 664 B.C.E. his nephew and successor Tantamani was able to muster a force which invaded Upper Egypt and made Thebes his capital. In Memphis he defeated the other Egyptian princes and Necho I may have died in the battle. Another army was sent by Ashurbanipal and again it succeeded in defeating the Egyptians. The Assyrians plundered Thebes and took much booty home with them. Later, Necho’s son Psammetichus I was able to gain a large degree of independence while keeping his relations with Assyria friendly.

Further north, Assubanibal successfully subdued the Phoenician city of Tyre, which had allied itself with Egypt's revolt. Syria and Cilicia also submitted again to Assyrian control, as did several other regions in the Levant and Asia Minor.

Nineveh, Babylon and Elam

For the time being the dual monarchy of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh and Shamsh-shuma-ukin in Babylon went accoring to plan. Shamsh-shuma-ukin's powers, however, were limited. As king, he performed the required Babylonian public rituals, but official building projects were executed by his younger brother.

Ashurbanipal devastates the Elamite city of Susa: “Susa, the great holy city, abode of their gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries... the treasures of Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon that the ancient kings of Elam had looted and carried away. I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa... I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their goods and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated... I devasteated the provinces of Elam and on their lands I sowed salt.”

During Ashurbanipal's first years the Persian province of Elam was still in peace, as it was under his father. Ashurbanipal even reported that he sent food supplies there during a famine. Around 664, however, the situation changed, and the Elamite king Urtaku attacked Babylonia by surprise. In Nineveh, Ashurbanipal delayed in sending aid to Babylon. When he did act, the 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 legitimate heir. Many Elamite princes fled from him to Ashurbanipal's court, including Urtaku’s oldest son Humban-nikash. In 658 B.C.E./657 B.C.E. the two empires clashed again as Ashurbanipal decided to punish the province of Gambulu for its support of Urtaku back in 664. 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, during which, according to Assyrian reliefs, Teumman committed suicide. Elam became a new vassal of Assyria.

With the Elamite problem solved, the Assyrians could finally punish the province of Gumbulu and promptly seized its capital. The victorious army marched home, taking with them the head of Teumman. These acts are prominently depicted in the reliefs of Ashurbanipal's palace.

Ashurbanipal's dominance in his growing empire apparently resulted n friction between the two brother kings, and in 652 B.C.E. Babylon rebelled. Babylon was not alone, as it had allied itself with Chaldean tribes, the city rulers of its southern regions, the kings of Guti, Amurru, and Malluha, and even Elam. According to a later Aramaic source, Shasm-shuma-ukin formally declared war on Ashurbanipal in a letter in which he claimed that Ashurbanipal was his subject, acting only the governor of Nineveh. Ashurbanipal delayed an answer, due to unfavorable omens. When Ashurbanipal finally commanded an attack, his Assyrians proved to be more powerful. After two years, Shamash-shuma-ukin met his end, in his burning palace just before the city surrendered. After massacring the rebels, Ashurbanipal allowed Babylon to keep its formal independence, but it was clear who was truly in charge. The next king of Babylon, Kandalanu, left no official inscription, and his function was probably only ritual.

Controlling such a far-flung empire required nearly constant action by Assyrian military forces. Nevertheless, Ashurbanipal's domain generally prospered and benefited from his capable administration. After subduing Arab revolts in the 640s, he turned again to pacifying Elam In 639 Assyrians sacked the Elamite city of Susa, and Ashurbanipal boasted that “the whole world” was his.

Cultural deeds

Ashurbanipal's royal guards

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, 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, medical diagnoses, omen texts (the largest group), astronomic/astrological texts, and mythic literature like Enuma Elish and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Many of these literary texts have survived due to his having preserved them in his library. Besides their intrinsic value, these documents proved extremely helpful in deciphering cuneiform.

Ashurbanipal also demonstrated a substantial commitment to religious building. He improved virtually all of the major religious shrines of both Assyria and Babylonia, especially Ninveh's Temple of Ishtar. He took a keen interest in omens, many of which he read himself. He also took part regularly in religious festivals.

Finally, it should be mentioned that Ashurbanipal was also was a major patron of the arts. He adorned his palaces with scenes depicting both his military victories and religious events of his reign. Art critics indicate that the epic quality of these bas-reliefs are unequaled in their time.

Later reign

During the final decade of Ashurbanipal's rule, Assyria was seemingly peaceful, but it also faced decline due to economic exhaustion and military over-extension. Documentation from the last years of Ashurbanipal's reign is uncharacteristically scarce given the abundance of evidence for his earlier years. Even the date of his death is not known for certain. The latest attestations of Ashurbanipal's reign are of his thirty-eighth regnal year, (631 B.C.E.), but according to later sources he reigned for 42 years (to 627 B.C.E.). Chronological difficulties that arise from this date lead scholars to speculate that he probably died closer to 631, or that, during his old age, he may have shared power with his son and successor Ashur-etil-ilani.

In any case, after his death a power struggle ensued, involving several parties, including Ashur-etil-ilani, his brother Sinsharishkun, a general named Sin-shumu-lishir, and the eventual new king of Babylon, Nabopolassar. Babylon would soon take ascendancy over Nineveh, and empire over which Ashurbanipal had presided would give way to the new Babylonian Empire.

Legacy

File:Kinadshburn.JPG
Ashurbanipal and his charioteer during a royal lion hunt.

After Ashurbanipal's death, the Assyrian Empire began to disintegrate rapidly. The Scythians, Cimmerians and Medes immediately penetrated the borders, marauding as far as Egypt, while Babylonia again became independent. The new Babylonian king, Nabopolassar, along with Cyaxares the Mede, finally destroyed Nineveh in 612 B.C.E., and Assyria fell. A general called Ashur-uballit II, with military support from the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, held out as a remnant of Assyrian power at Harran until 609 B.C.E., after which Assyria ceased to exist as an independent nation. It was against Necho II's campaign to aid Assyria against the Babylonians that King Josiah of Judah was famously killed at the battle of Megiddo.

Despite being a popular king among his subjects, Ashurbanipal was also known by enemy nations for his exceedingly cruel action to defeated kings. Some accounts and pictures show him putting a dog chain through the jaw of a captured king and then making him live in a dog kennel. Many bold pictures and paintings boast of such cruel acts, showing that he cultivated an image that would make his enemies fear him. On the other hand, his interest in culture and writing gained him a reputation in some quarters for effeminacy, and his portrayals in art may be designed to counteract this.

Ashurbanipal's appreciation for the value of written texts may have provided his most lasting legacy, as his collection of clay tablets at Nineveh proved invaluable both in the deciphering of cuneiform, and as a rich source of information about Mesopotamian culture in general. Ashurbanipal's name is often used for boys within Assyrian communities today.


See also

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Barnett, Richard David. Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668-627 B.C.E.). London: British Museum Publications Ltd. for the Trustees of the British Museum, 1976. ISBN 9780714110462
  • Castor, Alexis Q. Between the Rivers The History of Ancient Mesopotamia. Chantilly, Va: Teaching Co, 2006. ISBN 9781598032598
  • Esarhaddon, Frances Reynolds, Simo Parpola, and Julian Reade. The Babylonian correspondence of Esarhaddon, and letters to Assurbanipal and Sin-Šarru- Iškun from northern and central Babylonia. State archives of Assyria, v. 18. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 2003. ISBN 9789515705686
  • Grayson, Albert Kirk, Grant Frame, and Linda S. Wilding. From the upper sea to the lower sea: studies on the history of Assyria and Babylonia in honour of A.K. Grayson. Uitgaven van het Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden, 101. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2004. ISBN 9789062583126
Preceded by:
Esarhaddon
King of Assyria
669–ca. 631 or 627 B.C.E.
Succeeded by:
Ashur-etil-ilani

External links

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