[HN Gopher] Library of Ashurbanipal
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Library of Ashurbanipal
Author : andrewstuart
Score : 46 points
Date : 2023-08-31 06:38 UTC (16 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.worldhistory.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.worldhistory.org)
| dantondwa wrote:
| On the topic, I can absolutely recommend this sublime episode of
| Fall Of Civilizations on the Neo-Assyrian Empire:
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jpAphcaVJIs
| [deleted]
| andrewstuart wrote:
| Older than the Library of Alexandria, with 30,000 texts found.
|
| Much of the library was written on clay tablets, and when the
| library was burned, the clay tablets were fired like a kiln,
| preserving them for thousands of years.
| Perenti wrote:
| For those interested, there are several videos of Dr Irving
| Finkel from the British Museum talking about the Library of
| Asshurbanipal on Youtube.
|
| Dr Finkel is a brilliant speaker and fluent in Sumerian, Akkadian
| and Assyrian writing systems.
| cjs_ac wrote:
| This lecture by Dr Finkel on how he discovered the original
| Babylonian version of the Noah's Ark story is equal parts
| fascinating and hilarious: https://youtu.be/s_fkpZSnz2I
| usrnm wrote:
| 7th century BCE
| walthamstow wrote:
| The subject of a very good episode of BBC Radio 4's In Our Time
|
| https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b7r71
| laserdancepony wrote:
| Seventh century BCE, not AD!
| egberts1 wrote:
| About the same as whether cheesecake is a cake ... or not.
| trackflak wrote:
| Seventh century _BC_ if we want to be more accurate.
| mrlonglong wrote:
| Nope, you'll upset people using different calendars. BCE,
| Before Common Era.
| ithkuil wrote:
| BC: Backwards Chronology
|
| AD: Advancing Dates
| acheron wrote:
| Hope you didn't call today "Thursday", you'll upset people
| who don't worship Thor.
| [deleted]
| mcphage wrote:
| How is "BC" more accurate than "BCE"?
| DemocracyFTW2 wrote:
| Title factually wrong and edited, nowhere to be found in the
| linked article, which clearly states: _Contrary to often-repeated
| claims, the Library of Ashurbanipal was not the first library in
| the world. Libraries existed in Sumer, attached to scribal
| houses, temples, and palaces by the Early Dynastic Period
| (2900-2334 BCE). Akkadians and Babylonians also had libraries and
| so did earlier Assyrian kings. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia
| also kept private libraries aside from those they would have
| referenced at the palace, school, or temple. The Library of
| Ashurbanipal is just the oldest one systematically organized to
| preserve a comprehensive collection of knowledge (not limited to
| one subject or type of work) and, owing to the importance of the
| tablets found there, the most significant._
|
| With being predated by other know collections by ~2000 years,
| hardly "the oldest known", not by a long stretch.
| andrewstuart wrote:
| I fixed the title to reflect your observations.
| DemocracyFTW2 wrote:
| cheers
| [deleted]
| dang wrote:
| The submitted title was "The 7th century Library of
| Ashurbanipal is the oldest known library in the world" and then
| it was edited to "7th century BCE Library of Ashurbanipal is
| the oldest recovered library".
|
| This submission seems great for HN so I've put it in the
| second-chance pool (https://news.ycombinator.com/pool,
| explained at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308). As
| part of that, I've reverted the title. Since it will get a
| random placement on HN's front page, it doesn't need extra help
| from the title any longer.
| ashurbanipal wrote:
| You're welcome
| glompers wrote:
| Nah, we're good, but thanks anyway
| andrewstuart wrote:
| I hope some mega billionaire is printing all the books and
| Wikipedia to metal tablets and storing multiple copies in hidden
| caves around the world, and in low lying areas where the coming
| floods will hide the tablets and reveal them again when the seas
| recede in millennia to come.
|
| On a different topic... this episode of the "Fall of
| Civilisations" podcast is where I heard about the Library of
| Ashurbanipal.
|
| It's probably the best podcast episode of all time on any topic
| that I've ever listened to:
|
| https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/13-the-assyrians-empir...
|
| 3.5 hours long!
|
| "Fall of Civilisations" probably being my favorite of all
| podcasts.
| dantondwa wrote:
| just commented to write this as well. By coincidence, I have
| listened to the Assyrian episode today. There is really nothing
| like it. I also recommend the youtube videos of the same
| podcast. They are really the perfect companion to this
| incredible history podcast.
| ulizzle wrote:
| Oh, yeah, I saw that one too. A scholar and a psycho,
| excelling both in art and genocide. That podcast is a good
| one.
|
| Ashurbanipal is also in Civ 5!
| titanomachy wrote:
| Someone is doing it with clay tablets!
|
| https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/human...
| andrewstuart wrote:
| Hopefully someone will build a pyramid on the Moon and store
| all the tablets within it. This will fulfill all my science
| fiction hope and dreams for the human race.
| mordechai9000 wrote:
| Somewhere past the present orbit of Mars might be nice.
| People could still visit it after the sun goes red giant.
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