Ashurbanipal, << `ah` shoor BAH nee `pahl,` >> also spelled Assurbanipal, was the last great king of the Assyrians. During his reign (668-627 B.C.), Assyria became a leading world power. His empire included Babylonia, Persia, Syria, and Egypt. But it was also during his reign that Assyria’s power began to decline. In 651 B.C., the Assyrians were expelled from Egypt. A civil war with Babylonia further weakened his empire, even though Assyria won the war in 648 B.C. Ashurbanipal was a dreaded warrior and a great patron of the arts. At his royal palace, he gathered a huge collection of Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian writings. This famous library of clay tablets, now mainly in the British Museum, is the best guide to Mesopotamian history.
