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2 unusual facts about Ashurbanipal


Adolphe Stoclet

Stoclet was described by contemporaries as charming, but somewhat pompous, and had a large beard said to resemble that of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.

History and culture of breastfeeding

A mother holding a very modern-looking nursing bottle in one hand and a stick, presumably to mix the food, in the other is depicted in a relief found in the ruins of the palace of King Ashurbanipal of Nineveh—who died in 888 BC.


17th century BC

1600 BC: The creation of one of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, a copy of which was found in the Babylonian library of Ashurbanipal: a 21-year record of the appearances of Venus (which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna): Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa.

Battle of Ulai

The Battle of the Ulai River, in 652 BC, during the reign of Ashurbanipal was an Assyrian assault on Elam, which was a Babylonian ally, and was apparently motivated by a desire to protect vital trade caravans of horses and metals from the mountains of Iran and Eastern Anatolia.

Hormuzd Rassam

In Assyria his chief "finds" were the Ashurnaçirpal temple in Nimrud, the cylinder of Ashurbanipal at Kouyunjik, and the unique and historically important bronze doors of the temple of Shalmaneser III.

Toll road

Toll roads have existed for at least the last 2,700 years, as tolls had to be paid by travellers using the SusaBabylon highway under the regime of Ashurbanipal, who reigned in the 7th century BC.


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