Library of Ashurbanipal | Hacker News Reader

Library of Ashurbanipal

worldhistory.org

65 pointsandrewstuart32 comments

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.

Thanks for the reco! I would also like to make one, which is the book “Assyria: the rise and fall of the world’s first empire” by Eckart Frahm. An absolutely fascinating read which leverages modern scholarship and archaeological discoveries to paint a much more nuanced picture of the Assyrian empire than the strongly anti-Assyrian standard narrative that has roots in the biblical perspective. I learned a ton.

The amazing thing about ancient history, for me, is that it helps situate my experience and this present moment. The more I learn the more the past feels close. And it is so close! What we call ancient history is just a few dozen generations ago. These people were so much like us. It is truly remarkable how far we have come in terms of technology but how little progress we have made in terms of wisdom.

Someone is doing it with clay tablets!

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/human...

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.

Somewhere past the present orbit of Mars might be nice. People could still visit it after the sun goes red giant.

Perhaps in a decade we can efficiently do this with an ILLM (insanely large language model) with eidetic memory, trained on the web and all our other media.

Store the model in an elaborately constructed polygonish gold-etched glowy ball that fits in the palm of a hand, complete with a plutonium thermal energy core, carbon fiber audio sensor and speakers, and then hide it somewhere - but leave clues.

I know we are not supposed to post Chat Gen stuff here, but I couldn't resist getting some help with the critical part, naming the artifact:

Omniscube of Existential Continuity

TerraQuorium, a Human Codex

PlutoniLex, Oracle of Mankind

The Nexus Cube of Cosmic Archives

Anthrokora Galactica Rosetta

Helixicon Pinnacle of Human Intellect

Quintessence Eternal Brain

MetaMnemnon, The Earth Archive

Solon's Cubic Echomancer

Tempuscrate's Timeless Witness

Apotheotic MindStone

Pandora's Polyhedron: Repository of Reality

Aside from the names, I think placing devices like this on various solar system bodies would be an effective and convenient back up for aliens to interact with.

Just a couple years ago this would have sounded fantastical and impractical. Today it would be sensible.

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.

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!

The second persian empire did this. Well, in reverse. They tried to preserve books in high dry lands, believing there will be flood (coming from the west if I remember correctly).

... and the most beautiful theme music, loaded with appropriate melancholy:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N3_fjdUiamc

Great that the composer put it in the public domain.

Play it at my funeral!

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.

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

That was absolutely fascinating and hilarious, exactly as you described it. Thank you!

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.

The subject of a very good episode of BBC Radio 4's In Our Time

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b7r71

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

You’re welcome

Nah, we're good, but thanks anyway

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.

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.

I fixed the title to reflect your observations.

cheers

Seventh century BCE, not AD!

About the same as whether cheesecake is a cake … or not.

Seventh century BC if we want to be more accurate.

How is "BC" more accurate than "BCE"?

The 'C' in BC reflects what event makes the era 'common', 'common era' is meaningless on its own. Whether or not you're religious, the birth of Christ is a convenient starting point for the western ('Gregorian' - who is Gregory?) calendar.

Nope, you'll upset people using different calendars. BCE, Before Common Era.

What makes this era common?

Hope you didn't call today "Thursday", you'll upset people who don't worship Thor.

BC: Backwards Chronology

AD: Advancing Dates

7th century BCE

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