Follow the collection
Library of Ashurbanipal, then and now
Start at the original library, follow the surviving objects to their present holders, and open their digitized pages side by side. Every transition stays attached to its source.
01 · Origin
The original library
Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, near Mosul, Iraq. Ashurbanipal reigned from 669/668 BCE.
Enter the library record and any real or reconstructed views
Use this photo
Library of Ashurbanipal gallery, British Museum, London. Photo: Gary Todd, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Library_of_Ashurbanipal.jpgDownload 1920px
What happened here
- 668 BCAshurbanipal reigns (669/668-c.630 BCE) and collects the library; exact founding of the library not dated · source
- 612 BCNineveh sacked; tablets burned (and thereby baked and preserved) · source
- 1849Layard finds tablets in Sennacherib's South-West Palace, late 1849 · source
- 1850British Museum excavations at Nineveh, 1850s to 1930s · source
- 1853Rassam finds tablets in Ashurbanipal's North Palace; Layard 1853 publication cited by BM project · source
Where the books are now
Surviving items, by the institution that holds them today. Each line has its source and how well it is proven.
- British Museum London, United Kingdom
Most tablets and fragments of the Library of Ashurbanipal Count: 30,000
03 · Survival
The present holders
- British MuseumLondon, United Kingdom
Most tablets and fragments of the Library of Ashurbanipal, 30,000 items.
04 · Comparison
One desk, many surviving copies
Choose two holders, then turn their pages together. The desk reads IIIF v2 and v3 manifests cached at build time; images still come from the holding institutions.
Two readable holder manifests are required for comparison. Verified manifests currently available: 0.