668–627 BCEReputable sourceWell documented
The Library of Ashurbanipal
On the timeline · around 668–627 BCE ·
What happened
King Ashurbanipal gathered tens of thousands of clay tablets into a great library at Nineveh, collecting literature, science, omens and history — including the best-preserved copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Why it matters
It is the oldest surviving systematically organised library in the world, and its rediscovery in the 1850s reopened the whole lost literature of Mesopotamia.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Ashurbanipal · Reputable source