ISBN：9780500480441

书名：I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria

作者：Gareth Brereton

出版：Thames & Hudson / The British Museum

装帧：平装，360页，325幅插图

语种：英文

开本：25×28cm

The accompanying title to the British Museum’s major exhibition, I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria.

In 669 BC Ashurbanipal inherited the world’s largest empire, which stretched from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the mountains of western Iran. He ruled from his massive capital at Nineveh, in present-day Iraq, where temples and palaces adorned with brilliantly carved sculptures dominated the citadel mound, and an elaborate system of aqueducts and canals brought water to the king’s pleasure gardens. Ashurbanipal, proud of his scholarship, assembled the greatest library in existence during his reign, a collection of over 30,000 clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script, on subject such as maths, the law and divination of omens from the gods. Guided by this knowledge, he set his course to fulfil his claim to be “king of the world”.

Beautifully illustrated and written by an international team of experts, this book features images of objects excavated from all corners of the Assyrian empire. The British Museum’s unrivalled collection of Assyrian reliefs brings to life the tumultuous events of Ashurbanipal’s reign: his conquest of Egypt, the crushing defeat of his rebellious brother in Babylon, and his ruthless campaign against the Elamite rulers of south-west Iran.

I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria provides an illuminating account of the Assyrian empire told through the story of its last great ruler, and highlights the importance of preserving Iraq’s rich cultural heritage for future generations.